untitled
by kitsunelover7
Summary: HS Fic. Naruto is keeping secrets from his fellow classmates. What are they?
1. Chapter 1

Naruto sighed as he sat back in his chair to listen to the teacher. Everybody around him was taking notes, but he wasn't. Nobody expected the dead last of the class to do anything. In truth, he had a photographic memory and though he remembered everything, he didn't try. Why bother? He would only be accused of cheating and actually caring about the classes.

'This is the last class until the end of the day,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Then I have to go to work and hope I don't get robbed again tonight. He closed his eyes to get the teacher going, after all isn't that what everyone was expecting him to do?

"Naruto," a man with a pony tail and a scar across his nose yelled.

"Huh, Whozzat?" Naruto pretended to be surprised. "Aww, Iruka-Sensei, can't I sleep?" Naruto whined getting the class to laugh. Iruka's eyes softened, though he didn't show it he was worried for the boy. "See me after class," Iruka sighed.

"Sorry Iruka-Sensei, I've got to prank the old man right after class today," Naruto told him with a goofy grin. Iruka sighed, there was no way to get through to the boy. 'Wait a minute,' Iruka thought. 'I heard he liked Ramen, I'll bribe him with that."

"If you want, I'll take you out for Ramen after school," Iruka suggested. Naruto had a look of worry flitter across his face and then said, "Maybe tomorrow," he yawned as he sauntered out of the room when the bell rang.

'He's hiding something,' two people thought as they left.

Was it good? Bad? And who was the two people at the end? Please review and tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the Songs Your Guardian Angel by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Hate Me by Blue October or Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru.

Naruto ran as soon as he left the school. He couldn't be late to work again and he needed to get his uniform for work. If he was late then he'd be fired and out of a job.

Naruto ran up to the steps of his old falling down, apartment building as he rushed to his apartment. He finally reached his room to find that someone had broken into it again. He dropped his bag and took off his blue shirt and pants that consisted as his uniform. He then changed into a tight fitting black shirt that showed of his muscle and tight fitting black jeans that he clipped chains onto his belt loops and had the chains hang down to about his knees and finally put gel in his bright blond hair to spike it up to give him a rocker look.

Naruto grabbed his guitar thankful that no one had tried stealing it from him yet. It was his only prized possession and the only way to make money. He then ran to the nightclub he worked at and though it wasn't night yet he still had to play songs for the people at the restaurant. His boss, Orochimaru, who Naruto knew was gay and maybe a pedophile the way his hungry looking eyes looked over him as he played, made sure Naruto would be on time. If he wasn't or wasn't wearing the clothes that Orochimaru told him to buy he knew he would be in a shitload of trouble. He then walked up to the stage and set up the microphone and equipment that the nightclub had. He finally finished setting up and moved to the mic.

"Alright everyone," Naruto's loud but calm voice said, "What song shall I play for you this fine afternoon?" After he said this requests were shooting up at him.

"Your Guardian Angel," someone shouted out.

"No play Hate Me instead," someone else yelled at him. Naruto raised a and at the fight that was about to break out.

"How about this," He said still in that calm voice. "I'll play Your Guardian Angel first then Hate Me," he said. He then started strumming out a few notes on his guitar which was black with red going around the sides and the bottom had a red fox with Nine-tails on it.

When I see your smile tears run down my face

I can't replace, and now that I'm stronger I have figured out how this world turn turns colder and breaks through my soul

And I'll find deep inside me I can be the one

I will never let you fall

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to Heaven

It's Okay. It's Okay. It's Okay.

Seasons are changing and waves are crashing

And stars are falling all for us

Days grow longer and Nights grow shorter

I can show you I'll be the one

I will never let you fall

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to Heaven

'Cuz you're my, you're my, my true love, my whole heart

Please don't throw that away

'Cuz I'm here for you

Please don't walk away

Please tell me you'll stay, stay

Use me as you will

Pull my strings just for a thrill

And I know I'll be okay

Though my skies are turning gray

I will never let you fall

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to Heaven

After he strummed the last few chords he turned to the cheering crowed as he stopped singing in the voice of an angel. Or that's what one person thought anyway. 'You will be mine Uzumaki,' He thought as he turned to leave, his chicken butt like hair sticking out in the crowd.

"Are there any more songs you would like to request before I play the next one?" He asked as the clapping stopped.

"Simple and Clean," Someone called out.

"Is that all for now?" Naruto asked. "Alright now the next song Hate Me."

He started strumming his guitar again as he got prepared to sing.

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head

They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed

Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone

Playing movies in my head that makes a porno feel like home

There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain

And I'm sure peace is all I want from you will you never call again

Will you never say that you loved just to put it in my face and will you never try to reach me it is I that wanted space

Hate me today

Hate me tomorrow

Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow

Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for three whole months, It's one accomplishment that you helped me with

The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again

In my sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night

While I was waging wars on myself you were trying to stop the fight

You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicide or hate

You made me compliment myself when it was way to hard to take

So I'll drive so Fucking far away that I never cross your mind  
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today

Hate me tomorrow

Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow

Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

And with a sad heart I say goodbye to you and wave

Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I have made

And like a baby boy I never was a man until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand

And then I found I'm yelling "Make it go away." Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be and she whispered "how can you do this to me?"

Hate me today

Hate me tomorrow

Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow

Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

After he finished and the applause died down he told them, "This is the last song for today so come back tomorrow and request some more." Then he started plying his guitar again and almost immediately started sing a sad but upbeat song.

When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go   
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go

You're giving me too many things  
Lately you're all I need  
You smiled at me and said,

Don't get me wrong I love you  
But does that mean I have to meet your father?  
When we are older you'll understand  
What I meant when I said "No,  
I don't think life is quite that simple"

When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go

The daily things  
that keep us all busy  
all confusing me thats when u came to me and said,

Wish i could prove i love you  
but does that mean i have to walk on water?  
When we are older you'll understand  
It's enough when i say so,  
And maybe somethings are that simple

When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go

Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before

When you walk away  
You don't hear me say please  
Oh baby, don't go  
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight  
It's hard to let it go

Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before

Hold me  
Whatever lies beyond this morning  
Is a little later on  
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all  
Nothing's like before

Naruto bowed as he finished the song. He walked out with his guitar and ran to his apartment, afraid of getting robbed of his only valuable possession. When he got home he went straight to bed, not bothering to do homework because it'd only make him look like he actually cared about school. He went to sleep thinking of the songs that he was going to play the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto sighed as he got up from his bed. 'Time to go to school again,' he thought getting his things ready for his shower. After a ten minute shower he walked into the kitchen. Contrary to belief, he did not eat Ramen all the time. Only when he had no money, did he resort to foods like Ramen. He popped bread into the toaster and thought about when his "guardian" would come over again. 'It has been awhile,' Naruto thought as he looked around his messy apartment. "Maybe I'll skip school to clean this up. Though, I may have to face him if I skipped again.' He shuddered while thinking about the last time his guardian had found out he skipped. Man, he wasn't able to walk properly for a week and that's with his fast healing.

The toast popped up jerking him out of his thoughts. 'Yay, after this I get to go to school,' he thought sarcastically.

He slowly ate his toast and picked up his bag. He walked out of the apartment and to school at a snail like pace.

Hey, he had to go to school, but the school didn't say he had to be to school o time right? Or maybe he just wasn't paying attention to the principal at orientation.

He finally reached school and walked into class, where his first period teacher, Kakashi, was teaching.

'Wow, I must be really late if Kakashi- sensei's already here,' Naruto thought as he walked to his seat.

"How nice of you to join us, Uzumaki. I was wondering when you'd join us," Kakashi said his voice light and casual, but still holding a threat in it. Naruto gulped and one thought ran through his mind, 'the act. Don't forget the act.' He smiled goofily and lied cheerfully, "My alarm clock didn't go off so I woke up late this morning. Then I had to shower and eat breakfast. Then I ran to school."

Kakashi looked at him curiously, but decided not to make a scene out of it.

"I'd like to see you after class, so please stick around," Kakashi told Naruto and then began teaching English.

Naruto sighed as he looked around. There was Sasuke Uchiha who, he didn't like at all. He was too much of a Bastard in Naruto's opinion. With his chicken butt like hair, to his pale skin he was the epiphany of handsome to many girls' eyes. Not that Naruto cared. His mask had to cover that up though. All the lies he was living in. At school he liked the loudmouth, pink haired girl Sakura. Outside of school, he didn't like anybody.

Sakura was a pink haired girl. She said it was natural but who has pink air with brown roots? That was one thing he didn't like about her, also it was always, Sasuke this and Sasuke that. Who'd want to go out with an annoying fan girl? Naruto found himself being shaken awake.

"Huh, who iz'it?" he asked speech slurred. He lifted his head up to find Kakashi looking down at him concernedly.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Kakashi asked trying to see behind his student's mask that had instantly been put up.

"Huh, Kakashi- Sensei," Naruto said brightly. "Is it the end of class already?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Is there anything going on at home Naruto? Is everything okay?" Naruto looked confused as part of his mask. Though his heart was pounding against his chest as he wondered if he was found out or not.

"Why do you ask?" Naruto said trying to sound light hearted. "Everything's okay, by the way. He went to get up as Kakashi just stood there trying to figure out why the boy lied so much in one sentence.

Naruto left and walked to his next class, Math. He opened the door and looked down at his feet as he walked in. Unluckily for him he bumped into Sasuke Uchiha and they both fell down as Naruto's lips fell onto Sasuke's.

He scrambled up as quickly as he could and could feel the killing intent of his "love" Sakura and all the other fan girls.  
"I'm sorry Sasuke," Naruto said as he backed away, fearfully.

"Loser, watch where you're going. If you do that again I'll tell everyone your secret about your job." Sasuke sneered as he had lowered his voice to a whisper.

"H-how do you know about that?" Naruto stuttered his voice full of fear.

"I'm an Uchiha," Sasuke told him arrogantly. "If you don't want me telling anyone, don't mess around with me," he threatened.

"All right everyone. Back in your seats," a voice called. A man with an unlit cigarette in his mouth and a black beard and black hair called out. Naruto walked to his seat trying to act cheerful.

He sat down next to the window and prepared to sleep when Assume, his teacher called to him. "Uzumaki, please solve this." Naruto glanced the board disinterestedly until he said, "The answer is 20," he looked away to the window wishing he could just disappear.

While he did that Asuma only gaped at what he could see of Naruto. He answered and did that in his head in less time it took him to read it. 'What is he holing back?' he asked himself.

At the end of class Naruto got up and went out into the hall way when he ran into his "love" Sakura.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto yelled. "Will you go to the movies.." Sakura hit him on the head and said, "What makes you think you can steal Sasuke-kun's first kiss like that. Huh? _I_ was supposed to be his first. You idiot," She then ran off crying. Naruto suddenly didn't feel like going to class, so he walked up to the roof and started writing a song.

Girl, your living in a fantasy world

Girl, you think everything is about you

Well, did you know that you're just a fantasy girl in a fantasy world?

Girl, you think everything is about you

But, I know that's not true

You are just a fantasy girl

Living in a fantasy world

He doesn't know that you exist

He has a girl

And she's not in a fantasy world

Naruto finished writing the song and laid down. He was about to sleep when he heard footsteps on the roof.

"Uzumaki," a voice growled. "You are on my roof." Naruto stood up and left but not before muttering a quiet, "Sorry Sasuke, I won't bother you again." Sasuke smirked as he realized that he had his love wrapped around his finger, without him knowing it.

Well you like? I'm trying to make Sasuke the top dog at school where everyone is afraid of him because of his last name. I don't know who Naruto will be paired with so I'm going to start a poll.

Sasuke

Sakura

Ino

TenTen

Temari

Gaara

Neji

Or anyone else you want. Just put down who you want in a review and I'll get it. By the way Naruto is 15 in this fic so he can work and have a girl friend or boyfriend.


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto limped home after school. After the fan girls had gotten out of class they decided to play a game called 'make Naruto Uzumaki suffer more than he usually did.' He was late for work and the only reason Naruto wasn't fired yet was because he brought in costumers and therefore earned helped the pedophile earn more money and he only got paid minimum wage because he was still in school.

He thankfully got the day off work, though he'd have to work more hours than usual. He arrived home at his apartment to find that someone was already there. He gulped and walked in shakily.

"Well well well, If it isn't Naruto-kun," a smooth voice said. Fear struck his heart as he saw Kabuto. His silver hair was in its usual ponytail and his glasses reflected a scared Naruto off of them.

"Kabuto-san," Naruto's shaky voice betrayed his nervousness. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming for a while." Kabuto chuckled as he walked up to a weak kneed Naruto.

"Did you not miss me Naruto-kun?" Kabuto asked in a hurt voice. "I thought that you liked having me around." He slid one of his hands on Naruto's cheeks. "What happened to you? I thought I told you nobody was allowed to touch my pet." Kabuto said a fake sweetness in his voice as a dangerous glint entered his eyes.

"I was attacked by fan girls after I accidentally landed on Uchiha's lips." Naruto told him, knowing that if he lied he would get into trouble.

Kabuto studied Naruto's face looking for a sign of a lie. "Well then," Kabuto suddenly sat down. "Make me dinner, Naruto- kun. Tonight I'd like sushi and rice balls." Kabuto was forever making Naruto's life miserable. Whatever he asked for, Naruto had to get and he couldn't eat until Kabuto told him to.

Naruto finished making the sushi and rice balls while cursing the fact that Kabuto had come when he was unprepared. Now Kabuto was going to make him clean up his apartment and he had to do it at night while Kabuto was sleeping. He looked around and knew that tonight was going to be an all- nighter.

He set the food in front of Kabuto as his stomach gurgled. Kabuto ignored the sound as he started in on his dinner. "Naru-chan," Kabuto started sweetly, "I don't like having a messy house to live in so could you clean it up? If you do, I'll let you eat anything you want tonight." Kabuto was a doctor, and he'd do experiments on Naruto that were unsafe for a lot of people, but since Naruto had a stronger stamina and a fast healing rate than any other human, Kabuto decided to test new medicine on him and he had to eat a strict diet whenever Kabuto came around, when he was allowed to eat that was. Naruto knew that he couldn't finish cleaning the messy apartment in one night, so he just replied, "Yes, Kabuto-san. I'll do that." It was already nine and though the apartment was small, people tended to vandalize it and covered it with graffiti every chance they got. It was rumored that his parents were in a gang and they ended up killing the mayor, so the people in town thought Naruto had something to do with it and used him as a scapegoat.

He went to work scrubbing the walls, while Kabuto sat and read the paper. Naruto cursed him in his head, while trying to get the ache out of his arms. Hours went by and by the time Naruto finished cleaning the living room, the sun was up.

He sighed as he went to make breakfast for Kabuto, since he always wanted the same thing so he fixed up an omelet and toast with green tea. He left the plate on the table as he started making a bento. The rice balls and rice went onto the side and the left over sushi from last night went into the middle. He walked into his bedroom looking long fully at his bed. He could use a full day's sleep, although Kabuto would punish him and Naruto didn't want that. The last time he was punished he couldn't move for a whole day. He took out a fresh uniform as he got ready for his shower. After he got dressed he grabbed his bag and walked to the dining room to see if he could eat before leaving.

"Here Naru-chan, have this," Kabuto told him throwing a bag in the process. He nodded and started walking to school, his feet taking the route automatically.

The bell rang and Naruto jerked up in his seat after he had fallen asleep. Kakashi looked at him worriedly and noticed that he had huge bags under his eyes and his movements were slow, sluggish. Then that damned smile was back on his face as he tried talking to Sakura but she was still upset about yesterday and hit him on the head. "Sakura-chan," Naruto whined as he clutched his head as though it hurt.

Next was math and Naruto smiled goofily and started yelling about what a bastard Sasuke was and how Sakura should be with him. If Sakura wasn't the teachers pet, she would've killed Naruto then.

The rest of his day went like that, he'd go to class, boast about some ridiculous thing, and then sleep during class.

At lunch he had some dry bread and soup that was mostly broth and some vegetables.

Naruto heard a loud laugh as he left school. A girl with short purple/black hair was getting picked on. He saw her say something and then get laughed at. A loud raucous laugh that Naruto recognized as Kiba Inuzuka. Naruto walked up to the little group and asked loudly, "Hey what's going on? Why wasn't I invited?" Naruto winked at Hinata to show her he was going to help her. "Why would a dead last like you care?" Kiba asked trying to insult him. Naruto was used to these kinds of insults. Honestly, couldn't they make up new ones? "Y'know," Naruto started, "I'm not into bullying anyway so I think you should keep away from Hinata-chan and watch your step," Naruto threatened as he took a hold of Hinata's arm and walked away from the little group.

"Thank you Naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered as her face turned bright red as she realized her crush was holding her arm still. "Your welcome," Naruto suddenly realized the time and, "Shit, I have to go. See you later Hinata-chan." Naruto took off running and barged into his apartment grabbing his guitar. "I'm going to work, Kabuto-san," Naruto yelled as he dashed back out. There was no time to change so he decided to play in his uniform. He entered the night club/restaurant and set up preparing for another night of singing.

Thank you for all who reviewed for those who did review. I'm going to have the poll up for a couple more chapters and then pair him off with someone. So please review and tell me who you want Naruto to be with. I'm going to do flashbacks next chapter. Do you want them to come in a dream or just a flash back paragraph?

The poll so far is:  
Sasuke-2

Sakura-0

Ino-0

Tenten-1

Temari

Gaara-1

Neji- 1

Iruka-1

Hinata-1

Kurenai-1


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto ran home trying to escape the angry drunks that spotted him and decided to beat him senseless and smash his guitar up that he stole. Or so they thought in their drunken state.

Naruto made back to his apartment ready to collapse, but remembered Kabuto. He'd be able to go to bed after the apartment was cleaned. He sighed realizing that though he had very little cleaning to do, he still wouldn't get much sleep that night. Kabuto had taken his bed when he came and Naruto was forced to sleep on the uncomfortable couch.

Naruto quickly finished the cleaning and he walked into his room to grab blankets. As he laid on the couch trying to sleep, he started thinking about his life. Leaving Kabuto wasn't an option, because Naruto tried that once before and Kabuto had tracked him down and wouldn't let him eat or sleep for a week.

Flashback

Naruto smiled as he slipped out the house into the cool night air. That was too easy. He started jogging and as soon as he got a few blocks away from his apartment he went into a full blown run as he hurried away into the night.

Kabuto had taken twelve year old Naruto in just a few weeks ago. At first it was fine, Naruto could have anything he wanted until Kabuto started asking things of Naruto. At first it was simple things like take out the garbage, but a few nights ago Kabuto had forced Naruto to make out with him. Naruto of course was disgusted. Why would a twenty year old man make out with a twelve year old? It was just disgusting.

Naruto stopped and looked around, he still wasn't far enough away from his apartment and he knew Kabuto would quickly find him. He quickly caught his breath as he fast walked towards the edge of the city. Blond hair wasn't common in Japan and he knew that. Kabuto, Naruto knew, even after a few weeks living with him, had a big influence over the police department because he had connections. Naruto never made it to the edge of the city as he was roughly grabbed around the waist. Naruto never got the chance to scream as he felt Kabuto's lips covering his mouth. Naruto was dragged down the street back to place he now called Hell and once they were back at the apartment Naruto, with silent tears running down his face was thrown to the ground as Kabuto began to verbally abuse him.

"You know, the people at the orphanage practically sold you to me just to get you out of there. So that means your mine and I can do whatever I want to because I bought you. Do you understand?" Naruto nodded his head fearfully as he didn't want Kabuto to be even more mad at him.

"good, now come with me and I'll teach you a lesson on running away from me."

End Flashback

Naruto sighed as he looked at the time, one o'clock and he still couldn't sleep. He buried his head into his pillow as he tried to call on sleep.

The next morning Naruto awoke to find that one, it was the weekend and two Kabuto was gone for a few weeks. Kabuto only came when he thought Naruto was happy. Only when he realized that he wasn't he would leave and Naruto would have complete freedom on what to do again.

Naruto got up as he made himself some breakfast. He wasn't really that hungry, despite not eating for a while. When he finished he walked too his room and put on clean clothes. He didn't have anything to do over the weekend except to look up songs and play them so he would be prepared to play whatever people requested. Sure Naruto had homework, but why bother doing it if he was just going to fail anyway? Sure some teachers liked him but those were the few that even tried to help him. Take Kakashi for example, he was starting to get on Naruto's nerves for asking if he was alright and the looks he gave him when Naruto was supposedly sleeping. He liked one his teachers alright. Her name was Kurenai and she helped him when he wanted to talk to someone and gave him advice. Though she was there when he needed her, he knew that she would back off if he told her what actually happened to him. Like any teenage boy would he thought he felt something for the women with mysterily red eyes that he knew were real, and that long black hair. He knew she was only five years older than him.

Naruto left his apartment to go to the library when a man had tripped over a rock and looked around to see what he tripped over and there was Naruto walking by him without noticing the man.

"You," the man yelled as he pointed his finger at a retreating Naruto. "Brat, you tripped me, your going to pay for that." With that the man ran up to Naruto and punched at him only to be stopped by someone's fist.

Thank you for all the reviews everyone. This is the last chapter that the poll is open, so if you haven't reviewed with somebody do it now. It's your last chance. I want to start the relationship building next chapter and the story will turn out from there. The results so far are:

Sasuke-2

Tenten-1

Gaara-2

Neji- 1

Iruka-2

Hinata-7

Kurenai-4


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto stared wide eyed at the person that stopped the punch. It was Kakashi, he knew why Naruto was beaten and decided to help his student, whom he knew that would never hurt anyone intentionally. Kakashi spoke in a soft, but dangerous tone. "Don't touch my student or have any of your buddies touch him, understand me?" The man nodded in fear and Kakashi let go of his hand.

Naruto was questioning why Kakashi was being so nice to him. He then put on a mask of confidence as he spoke to his teacher, "You didn't have to do that for me Sensei, I would've been able to take care of myself." Naruto told him smiling brightly. Kakashi took something from his pocket and gave it to Naruto. It was a cell phone. "If you need any help or someone to talk to call me up and I'll answer at any time." Naruto took it with shaking hands wondering if there was a trick behind it and worried that Kabuto would find it. He almost gave it back but Kakashi had started walking away holding his hand up in a farewell and turned the corner.

A girl stood watching from the corner of a nearby building wondering why the man went after her Naruto- kun when he did nothing wrong. She didn't hear a noise behind her as she continued spying on her crush.

"Look what we got here," a voice drawled as the person came up behind her. "A young girl on her own." Hinata turned to see a man leering perversely at her. She back into the wall as she tried to get away. Scared she tried running, but was held in place as the man started to lean toward her as he went to kiss her. Hinata screamed as he got to close for comfort. She hoped someone heard her as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. She was a Hyuuga, someone trained to fight since a young age. She heard some commotion around the beginning of the alley then slipped into a welcoming darkness as she saw a familiar shock of blond hair.

Naruto tensed when he heard a scream, it was a female and he knew the downtown part of Konoha so well he knew that someone that wasn't from around there would be stupid enough to walk into an alley. He searched all around for the spot where he thought it came from. Just then he saw a couple of figures in one of the alleys and sprinted toward it. His blood freeze when he saw Hinata, how dare someone try to take advantage of her? He ran up to the man sending a punch to his side seeing as he couldn't hit his head. The man turned and let out a snarl as he realized he was interrupted by the boy that somehow caused the death of the mayor. "Damn brat. Let me have her," The man snapped as he tried kicking Naruto's feet form under him. Naruto just jumped as he replied, "I won't let you hurt a defenseless female, bastard." Naruto ran at him his fist aimed at the mans stomach when he feinted and brought his leg up to the mans jewels. The man collapsed in pain as he tried getting up but couldn't. "You're lucky I'm going easy on you, bastard." Naruto turned as he picked up Hinata and carried her bridle style back to his house.

Hinata woke up to feel something wet being applied to her forehead. She opened her eyes to find blond hair and worried blue eyes looking down at her.

"Hey your awake, Hinata-chan, how are you feeling?" He asked a genuine concerned smile on his face. Hinata blushed red as she saw his smile and Naruto's hand covered her forehead. "Do you have a fever Hinata-chan. Because you're really red," Hinata giggled at his cluelessness and sat up. She blushed brighter as she realized she was in Naruto's house. "Naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered, "Thank you for helping me back there." By now here stutter had gotten worse if that was possible. "Ah, it was no problem Hinata-chan; I always help out people in need." Naruto chuckled nervously as he raised his hand to rub the back of his head in awkwardness.

Naruto got up as he heard his stomach growling. "Um, do you want something to eat, Hinata-chan? I can make you something if you'd like." Hinata looked at the time and jumped out of the bed as she saw how late it was. "Sorry Naruto-kun, I need to get home." Naruto looked outside the window and offered, "I'll walk you home Hinata-chan, it's really dark out now," He started for the door with Hinata following behind him. Hinata feeling brave took a hold of Naruto's hand and led him in an awkward silence to her house. When they got to the gate of the mansion Naruto turned to Hinata and asked, "Can I kiss you?" Hinata nodded as Naruto brushed his lips lightly against Hinata's. "Naruto-kun," Hinata fidgeted, "thanks for everything you've done today." she stuttered as she looked him in the eye. "No problem Hinata-chan," Naruto told her walking away as she went through the gates. As soon as he was out of sight of the mansion he began running so he wouldn't encounter a drunk. He returned to his apartment, got something to eat and went to bed.

I'd like to say to everyone who reviewed. If you haven't realized the pairing yet, it's Naruto/Hinata. Sorry if the fight scene was so bad. I can't write those to well. Please review.


	7. Chapter 7

The weekend went by fast for Naruto. He ended up thinking about Hinata and what would happen to their friendship. Just because he saved and kissed her doesn't mean that they were girlfriend and boyfriend, right? Naruto had known that Hinata liked him for a long time. But he knew that Kabuto wouldn't be happy if he knew Naruto had willingly kissed someone and if he had a girlfriend. 'Why does this happen to me?' Naruto asked himself. 'Why can't I have freedom over my life? Why does he have to control everything I do?' Naruto was depressed as he tried to figure out why he couldn't do what his other classmates could. He was Kabuto's pet sure, but did that mean he'd have to give up his social life because he was told to? No. He was going to escape Kabuto's grasp on him and his life and he knew the perfect place to go. But he wasn't going to yet. Next time Kabuto came over he would do it, he decided. He saw the time and knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day. He quickly fell asleep after his head hit the pillow.

Naruto was woken up the next morning by a song that was on the radio.

Wake up and enjoy the day

For you never know what's going to happen

Get your lazy butt out of bed and greet the sun

Look over at her and know you can't live without her

Lean over for just one kiss, ignore the morning breath

Take her hand into yours and tell her you love her

Then yank her out of bed

So get your lazy butt out of bed and greet the sun

The song was short with a sweet but slow melody to it. Naruto looked out the window and saw it was cloudy. "Greet the sun, yeah right," Naruto grumbled as he got out of bed. "Will it rain today?" Naruto asked himself as he walked into the shower. Naruto hated the rain for it brought back bad memories for him and the day would have a depressed feel to it, too. For Naruto's mask he loved any day, but the rain made it a lot harder to put his mask on. He got out of the shower and started making breakfast. Scrambled eggs and toast. He put ketchup on the eggs and ate the toast dry. He finished and grabbed his bag.

He slowly walked to school, ignoring the traffic and how busy the street really was. Why was he feeling so down today? He stepped out in front of a truck as he tried remembering what day it was. The next thing he knew, he was flying with someone's body around his own. "wah," he said before landing harshly on the ground. He felt his rescuer get off him and he rolled over wincing in pain.

"Who are you?" He asked while taking the offered hand to pull him up. His rescuer had long brunette hair and pale white eyes. 'He looks like Hinata-chan,' Naruto suddenly realized. "Neji Hyuuga," his rescuer told him. "Oh, I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said loudly as he took the proffered hand. "Hey Neji-san, are you related to Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked innocently. Neji turned, "Why? Are you interested in her?" Naruto shook his head no. "That's not it. You just look like her and you have the same last name," Naruto told him as he smiled proudly at Neji. 'Is he proud to find this out by himself?' Neji asked himself. 'That's pretty sad.' Thankfully for Naruto his mask was holding up. They finally arrived at school and when they went there separate ways Naruto ran off yelling, "Thanks for saving me Neji-san." 'Well at least the boy has some manners,' Neji thought as he went to class.

Naruto went to class and slipped into his seat. He was early, he knew that. He took out a piece of paper and started writing. The song that he heard this morning still in his head, he unconsciously started writing it but with more words and a different tune.

When Kakashi came in to a loud and noisy classroom, he looked over at a pleased looking Naruto as he looked at something in his hand. Kakashi knew whatever he had wasn't school work and wondered what it was.

Naruto looked pleased at whatever he had put it down and stared in shock at the amount of people in the room as he wondered when they came in. 'Have I been working on that song for so long?' he asked himself. He spotted Kakashi. 'I guess so, if Kakashi is here.' His eyes narrowed as he tried to think about what was distracting him earlier. "Of course! Today's my birthday," he shouted not thinking.

Everybody glared at him. "Unlike you," Sakura began, walking up to him, "Some people are here to learn. Nobody cares if it's you birthday or not, so shut up." She pulled her arm back and punched him in the stomach.

Naruto, feeling winded, grabbed his bag and walked out of the room as fast as he could, leaving behind a lone piece of paper on his desk.

Thank you everyone who's reviewed. They keep me going. I finally put Neji in. He's going to be important later on, seeing as he's Hinata's over-protective cousin. Please review.


	8. Chapter 8

I put up the wrong chapter 8. That one I was supposed to have deleted form my computer. This is the real one. Hope youy enjoy.

Naruto walked slowly out of school, as his stomach still hurt from Sakura's punch. He started walking to his apartment when he suddenly bumped into somebody. "Sorry, didn't see you there," Naruto mumbled as his mind was going over Sakura's words again. He knew nobody liked him, except Hinata of course. Actions speak louder than words, Naruto had heard before, so Sakura's punch and all the glares he got meant that his classmates hated him. He wasn't surprised that Kakashi hadn't tried to stop her, after all, he had overheard the principle tell Kakashi to keep an eye out for him. By the time he got out of his thoughts, the person he bumped into had already stood up, he had knocked him down, and was looking at Naruto with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay kid?" Naruto looked at the stranger and jumped in surprise. "Bastard, threatening me with my job. I'll hurt you," the strangers onyx eyes looked amused as Naruto had most likely confused him with his brother. A fist came out of nowhere and he had caught it without thinking. "Look at me," the words came out cool and calm as though he was discussing the weather and not holding back the towns scapegoat. Naruto calmed down some to look the raven in the eyes. "Oh sorry, I though you were the Bastard. Sorry about that," he took his free hand and rubbed the back of his head, faking a laugh. "That's okay. I'm used to people confusing me with my foolish little brother. As long as your friends with me, he won't look at you again," he stuck his hand out. "Itachi Uchiha." Naruto hesitated then put his hand in Itachi's, "Naruto Uzumaki, sorry about the mix-up. I'm just a little stressed today." Itachi raised a delicate eyebrow, "Which is why your walking away from school?" Naruto turned red as he remembered that. Before he could say anything else, someone spotted him and yelled at him, "Get away from the Uchiha heir, you damn brat." Naruto, suddenly afraid of the consequences took off running, before someone tried hurting him.

As he ran he tried to figure out a place to stay. His apartment wasn't safe as people tended to break in and beat him up. Some even tried raping him, but he somehow got away. Of course all the people that broke in were drunk, and slower than normal as they stumbled around his apartment. One time he saw a man humping a pillow. If he wasn't escaping and knowing that the man would soon find out about the pillow, he would've laughed. The streets weren't safe, he knew that from experience. He was usually at school on his birthday, but since he left, and wasn't coming back, he had to find a place to stay. He ran and almost bumped into somebody again. He only stopped when a hand grasped onto his wrist pulling him back.

"Your eyes are just like mine," a boy just a year or two older than Naruto told him. Naruto looked up as he heard the voice. Red hair, and light blue/green eyes met his. A tattoo was on his temple and without thinking Naruto reached his hand out and started to trace it. His other wrist, which the boy still had, was screaming in pain as the boys hand tightened around it. Naruto stopped the tracing, wincing in pain as he looked at the red head. "Let me go," Naruto told him as he tried pulling his wrist back. "No," the red head told him as he started walking, pulling Naruto along with him. "Well can you at least tell me your name?" he asked his "kidnapper." "Gaara, Gaara no Sabaku." Naruto paled as he continued trying to pull away. "You know if you do that your going to break your wrist and won't be able to play guitar for about a month. And you need the job, right?" Gaara asked. Naruto stopped struggling as he realized he was right. "Where are you taking me?" Naruto asked as he looked around trying to recognize the area. "A safe place. I want to know how you can smile and laugh all the time." Naruto just about choked when he heard that. "That's my mask. I have it up all the time, I've perfected it over the years of being hated by everyone and I want people to think it doesn't affect me." Naruto sighed. "Sometimes, I feel like giving up. But I want to earn respect and know people don't blame me for killing the mayor. Like a baby could do that anyway," he finished sarcastically. Gaara looked at him, 'he's different than me. He wants acknowledgement and he wants to earn it. I'll just hurt anyone who touches me. Nonetheless talk to me.' he told himself looking at the trapped blond. 'Heh, he can't even get out of my hold, which is pretty weak. How is he going to be acknowledged by everyone if he can't defend himself.' He stopped in front of a door, and finally let go of Naruto, since he looked tired and didn't look like he'd be running away anytime soon. "Well Gaara-san, where are we?" Naruto asked breaking the silence as he looked around the building. "My house," Gaara answered opening the door. Naruto looked around the apartment and was surprised to se it twice as big as his. He walked around as he started checking everything out. 'Kabuto sure is cheap,' Naruto realized as he remembered that Kabuto was a nurse at the hospital. "Hey Gaara-san, thanks for helping me hide out today." Naruto told him as he walked around. Gaara almost had a nose bleed as he watched Naruto, and though he knew Naruto liked girls more, since he saw Naruto and Hinata kiss, he still had crush on him. 'I'll leave him alone, he'll probably think I'm a fag or something and I want him to be my friend. Nothing more, nothing less. We're both alike so we should help each other out. I want to know his secrets.'

Sorry about not updating last weekend. I had writers block and while taking a math test on Thursday, I got an idea on how to start this chapter and it just took off from there. I'll try to update chapter 9 tomorrow but I don't know. Please review.


	9. Chapter 9

Naruto walked around Gaara's apartment as he tried to get his nerve up to ask him a question. "Hey, Gaara-san," Naruto started, then faltered. The boy seemed nice enough, but could he trust him enough to ask he could stay overnight, so he wouldn't get hurt? He pulled out of his thoughts as he realized Gaara was staring at him. "Um, never mind," he mumbled his hesitation taking control of him. Gaara stared at him for a few more minutes, and then turned away to get back to the book that Naruto had interrupted him from.

Naruto walked into the living room and turned on the tv. Since he didn't own one, save for the busted up one someone had taken their anger out on when they couldn't find Naruto, he was busy channel surfing. He finally landed on cartoons, a childish thing to do but he had never got the chance to watch them when he was younger. The people at the orphanage told him only good kids could watch them and no matter how hard he tried to be good he never got to watch them. He was always stuck with the news or some other boring channel so he never watched tv. He spent most of the afternoon watching tv, after changing the channels a bunch of times he finally settled on a ninja movie.

Gaara had finished the book and wandered into the living room. He knew Naruto had turned on the tv, but from the sounds of it they weren't speaking Japanese. 'Does Naruto know another language?' Gaara asked as he read the Japanese subtitles. Naruto had fallen asleep, and Gaara wondered if he should wake the blond. He suddenly looked at the time and realized that Naruto should be at work soon. He shook Naruto awake and had just enough time to dodge the wild punch. "Ah, Gaara-san, sorry about that," Naruto said once he fully woke up. Gaara just shrugged as though saying "its okay" and told Naruto, "You have to go to work. Its 2:30 now so I suggest you let me drive you to your apartment and I'll take you there." Naruto just sat there thinking about it. "Okay," he sighed knowing that if he tried to run he would still be late.

He hopped onto the back of the motorcycle that was gray and had the name Shukaku on it. Naruto put on the helmet that Gaara offered and told him where he lived. Gaara nodded and started the motorcycle up and took off.

Naruto ran into his apartment and put on the tight black jeans and a shirt that he had worn when he got into a fight. He grabbed his guitar, looked around to make sure that his apartment wasn't too trashed and ran to the waiting boy outside.

Gaara was ecstatic, Naruto was gaining his trust faster than he thought and though he had heard of his reputation, from the look of apprehension and trying to pull away from him , he was sure that the boy was eventually going to open up to him as he wore a mask around Gaara, too. Gaara was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize Naruto had come out until he felt the bike moving. He looked at the blond and watched as he strapped the guitar to the bike and waited until he put his arms around his waist. He took off and minutes later stopped in front of the club.

Naruto, after thinking about how Gaara knew where he worked and how he knew he played the guitar, ran in to get set up. He was almost to the stage when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Gaara, "Naruto-san, I'd like to request a song now so you can play it first." Naruto nodded as Gaara told him. He set himself up and said in the calm but loud voice, "Before I play a song from the audience. There has already been a request. This song is called Slip out (Little More than before)." He started strumming while wishing he had a whole band to play this song with. He started singing and he saw Gaara smiling slightly.

_I don't know since when I changed to such a cold-hearted guy_

_I have to warm this frozen, icy, lonely heart to thaw_

_I like being wrapped with warmness more than anything else for sure_

_I'm gonna make my coming days to be filled with laughter and joy_

_I let myself down that I'm more cruel than I thought I would be_

_I'm just a loser who ends up by caring for my soul_

_I don't give my heart to no one cause I don't wanna waste my time_

_I tried to love this loneliness to slip out of this lonesome hole_

_Sorrow is what I hate but it's grown my sensations_

_Regrets taught me how to make any hard decisions_

_Peace is always by my side but I've never felt it once_

_Love is not the word only for the sweet romance_

_Well, I'm scared, scared, scared, scared to death_

_And I'm scared to keep on going on my way_

_Well, I'm scared, scared, scared, scared to death_

_And I'll tell myself I'm special till the end_

_Recalling my torn, broken, aching heart of these long days_

_And all the memories I wanted to forget for making leaps_

_Recalling, breaking, aching, crying, making sure to me_

_And I take all and grin at my future on the way_

_Sorrow is what I hate but it's grown my sensations_

_Regrets taught me how to make any hard decisions_

_Peace is always by my side but I've never felt it once_

_Love is not the word only for the sweet romance_

_Well, I'm scared, scared, scared, scared to death_

_And I'm scared to keep on going on my way_

_Well, I'm scared, scared, scared, scared to death_

_And I'll tell myself I'm special till the end_

_I don't give my heart to no one cause I don't wanna waste my time_

_I tried to love this loneliness to slip out of this lonesome hole_

Naruto stopped as he smiled down at the crowd. They seem to have liked the song, good. He spotted a familiar face and his smile slipped some. Hinata, what was she doing here? She shouldn't be in a place like this, Naruto thought as he decided to keep an eye on her. Naruto turned as he heard, "play face. And then moon on the water." from the crowd. He smirked, thankful for the audience to want him to play the same band tonight. He started singing after he introduced the song and the most of the audience started cheering.

_Large lips in the motion_

_Trying to keep blaming on_

_As I say reason I'm late on_

_Find you turning_

_Laughing and smiling_

_Running over sometimes_

_Feel like you leave me behind_

_Now you don't have to mind it_

_Find you shining_

_Everyday by day_

_Sing it up, my sister_

_In this world which everyone is lonely_

_Everything will be fine someday_

_Remember_

_Playing in a backyard_

_Hiding myself in garage_

_Since you never could catch me_

_Find you crying_

_Weeping in darkness_

_Sing it up, my sister_

_In this world which everyone is lonely_

_Everything will be fine someday_

_Some other day_

_Large lips in the motion_

_Trying to keep blaming on_

_As I say reason I'm late on_

_Find you turning_

_Laughing and smiling_

_Sing it up, my sister_

_In this world which everyone is lonely_

_Everything will be fine_

_Some other day_

_Sing it up, my sister_

_In this world which everyone is lonely_

_Everything will be fine someday_

_Some other day_

_Some other day_

Naruto looked down at Gaara with a, "see what you've done look" as the crowd was cheering loudly again. He decided to leave early, uneasy to see men creeping up to Hinata as she watched him sing. "I'm sorry, but if you come back tomorrow night I will play the next song and three others," Naruto lied as he packed his guitar up. He jumped down and met up with Gaara and moved quickly to Hinata, who just realized the men had come up to her. Gaara followed, amused at how protective Naruto was all of a sudden. He watched as Naruto called to his classmate. "Hey, Hinata-chan. What are you doing here?" Hinata moved over to the protection to Naruto and Gaara, playing with something in her hand as her face turned bright red. "Hello Naruto-kun. You did good up there. Do you work here?" she stuttered as she looked at the floor. Naruto nodded as his smile was turned back on. "Yeah, I do. So are you here with somebody or are you alone?" Naruto asked looking around as though he'd be able to see them. Hinata shook her head. "No, my cousin went to a store and I wandered into here when I heard someone singing." Her face was suddenly redder than Naruto had ever seen before and she fainted. Naruto freaked, shoving his guitar into Gaara's hands and picking up Hinata. He rushed out only to find a concerned Neji walking around, looking for his cousin.

"Neji-san," Naruto called out. Neji turned to see the boy he save that morning. "What did you do to Hinata-sama?" Neji yelled taking her from Naruto's arms and glaring at him. Naruto shrunk back and defended himself. "I didn't do anything to her. She just turned red and fainted. Didn't she, Gaara-san?" Naruto asked turning towards him as he dragged Gaara into it. Gaara scowled but seeing as it had no effect on anyone there it was useless. He finally agreed and Neji walked off with his cousin held protectively in his arms.

Thank you for the reviews. I really appreciate them. Halfway through this chapter I realized that Naruto hasn't introduced himself to Gaara. I have to fix that. The songs in this chapter were Slip out (little more than before), and Face. I think there by the band Beat Crusaders. Hope you liked it and this will not be NaruGaa. It will be NaruHina. Please review.


	10. Chapter 10

-1When Gaara dropped Naruto off at his apartment, Naruto not being brave enough to ask Gaara if he could stay over, he walked up the stairs and prepared himself to see his apartment. He knew from experience that people might be in there still. After all, they didn't want him around. He opened his door, reminding himself that he would fix it later and looked around at the damage.

He heard footsteps behind him and he whirled around ready to fight if he needed to. The lopsided silver hair was what first caught his attention and immediately put on that large smile that made his face feel like it was going to split into two. "Hey Sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked as he started bouncing up and down energetically. Kakashi looked down at him as he handed him a piece of paper. Naruto recognized it as the song he wrote in class. He cocked his head to the side and asked, "Why couldn't you have given this to me tomorrow?" a puzzled look in his eyes as he began putting his thoughts into order.

'Let's see,' Naruto mused as he kept up his act. 'Kakashi's the English teacher and I wrote a song.' His eyes widened as he realized, 'he read it? Why would he do that?' Kakashi's voice brought Naruto out of his thoughts. "Naruto mind if I stay here tonight? I know you're alone tonight and people attack you on your birthday," he eye smiled at his student. Naruto stared at his sensei as if he had grown another head. "Sensei, you don't have to do that you know. I'll be fine on my own, like all of those other years," he said grinning as though he was proud that he protected himself. But he couldn't hide the sadness and pain in his eyes as he smiled.

Kakashi stepped forward, his eyes surveying the damage done to the apartment.

"Naruto, as a teacher, I care for my students. I try to offer them assistance when they need it." Naruto looked at him disinterestedly as he said, "I know the reason your looking out for me is because the old man told you to. So why don't you go fuck your boyfriend or something, and leave me alone." Naruto, who had had a bad day already, couldn't help but to get mad at his teacher. Kakashi winced as his student told him what had been repeating in his mind ever since he agreed to watch over the blond. Although, after watching him being belittled by people he didn't do anything to and he just took it all in stride as if he knew that arguing with them would even piss them off even more.

Naruto watched his teacher as he stood there with a regretful look in his eyes. 'What does he have to be regretful about? Watching over me because the old man asked him to? Probably, since no one but the old man and Hinata-chan care about me.' He thought as Kakashi emerged from his thoughts.   
"You know Naruto," Kakashi started, "I may have started watching over you because Sarutobi-san asked me to, but now that I know what you've been through these few weeks has left me with a genuine desire to help you." Naruto's eyes darkened as he heard his teachers words and spat, "So now this is pity Naruto day? Listen _Sensei_," he stressed the word sensei as he started glaring at his teacher. "I don't need your pity or anything from you," he pulled the phone that Kakashi had given him out of his pocket and made to throw it down on the floor when Kakashi's words stopped him. "Do you know what I did after Sakura hit you? I yelled at her and then brought her down to the principal's office where she got suspended for a week. I can see through your mask and lies so I figured to try and get you to open up before I called you on that. And here you are acting like a spoiled brat; I thought _you_ would be grateful for the help but your acting like a certain Uchiha who acts like he's superior to everybody." Kakashi snapped his patience wearing thin.

Just then Naruto's stomach growled and he blushed while rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, since I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast, I'm going to get something to eat. Want something?" Naruto asked as he headed to the kitchen where the food thankfully wasn't touched. Maybe they thought they did enough damage by overcharging him and trying to sell stuff that nobody else wanted. He grabbed a zip lock bag from his fridge and threw some of it into a pan. He turned on the heat and stirred it up as it got warmer. Finally after about ten minutes he pulled it off and pulled out some plates and put the food them. He pulled out chop sticks and set them on the table where he muttered a quiet "Itadkimasu," and dove in. Kakashi sat down and started eating, "Is this stir fry Naruto?" At Naruto's nod he smiled and told him, "It's really good, did you make it from scratch?" the previous argument between them was forgotten for the time being as they ate. Naruto, after finally finishing his food got up and placed his plate in the sink. "I'm going to bed, do whatever you want. Just be quiet enough for me to sleep." He walked into his room and undressed so he only had his boxers on. He slipped into bed and began thinking about what had happened that night. 'So Kakashi finally decided to come and talk to me. Heh, I bet he was surprised to find my apartment in such a big mess.' He drifted off to sleep soon after knowing that for once he'd be safe on his birthday because Kakashi would scare whoever came in off and maybe fight them off.

He couldn't believe it. Kakashi had turned out to be untrustworthy after all. He could see his gloating face in the light of the fire. He turned around, all around him his apartment was on fire and he looked out his window at the residents that had been evacuated from the building and they were laughing at him. The fire surrounded him faster and faster and he had to get out of there. He couldn't breathe; the smoke was choking him as he inhaled. He looked around, the window. He could jump from there, although he was three stories up he would jump. He took one last look around and jumped.

Naruto woke up with a jolt as he clutched his bed, feeling like he was still going to fall. His heart, which had been racing, calmed down as he realized he was in bed. He let out a sigh of relief, good; Kakashi hadn't decided to burn his apartment down while he was sleeping. He got up and grabbed a uniform that was lying around and stumbled to the bathroom. The hot water woke him up and he began washing himself automatically. He thought about how Kakashi could have very well set his apartment on fire while he was sleeping. He scowled, he trusted people way to easily, that was his one weakness that he wasn't proud of or couldn't stop from doing.

He walked out of the bathroom fully dressed and grabbed a piece of toast that was on the table. He noticed kakashi had left and assumed that he was going to get ready for school. Last night, kakashi had won at least some of Naruto's respect after he told him that he had Sakura suspended. Naruto grabbed his bag as he looked at the time. For some reason he felt he should get to school early. 'Maybe I'll see Hinata-chan,' Naruto thought as he walked down the street.

Naruto walked to school with no problems, which surprised him because he was used to people always being meaner to him around his birthday. He walked into his first period class where he found Hinata crying. Naruto walked over concerned, "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently. Hinata looked over at him and she seemed to withdraw into herself as she saw her love and then turned away from him as she remembered what her father had said to her the night before, "You're worthless. How are you supposed to inherit the company if you're not at the top of your class? Look at your sister Hanabi; she's perfect for the company. She's not a shy weakling like you, I wish she was first born or you weren't born at all." Hinata ran after hearing her father say that and let loose the tears that had been threatening to spill while her father was insulting her.

Naruto, was persistent, and a little annoying, Hinata spun around in her seat and began crying into his chest. Naruto froze, unsure of what to do at first, then awkwardly began patting her on the back like he saw parents do with their upset children. He then began whispering, "it's okay. Whatever happened is over with. Think about happy times, the happiest day of your life. That's what I do." he continued his comforting until she pulled away from him, her eyes red from crying. He looked down at her and saw how pretty she was close up. He tilted his head down and kissed her on the cheek and that was when she fainted.

He heard whispering and realized that everyone but Kakashi was there watching him. He turned red from embarrassment and picked Hinata up and brought her to the nurse.

Yay, I finished it and put some Naruhina fluff in. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and sorry about making you wait so long. I had gotten a new computer and was putting files and stuff on it. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

-1As Naruto and Hinata walked back from the nurse's office, the back of their hands brushed up against each other and Hinata blushed. She looked over at Naruto to see his reaction, but his face was impassive, as though he was trying to protect himself from something or someone. She looked away as he looked over at her. He smiled, knowing that this was going to be the closest he would ever be with a girl, as long as Kabuto was around anyway. He smiled as they neared the classroom; after all he needed to keep up the act. He couldn't keep up his act around Hinata though; there was something about her that made him drop his guard. Maybe it was the way that she looked at him and saw the real Naruto, and not the mask he had grown accustomed to keeping up around everybody.

They entered the classroom and found Kakashi was there. Naruto leaned towards Hinata and said loud enough for the entire class to hear. "Wow, I thought we'd be on time. That is with Kakashi's tendency to be late for half the period. After all, it's only been fifteen minutes," Hinata turned red as Kakashi turned around to glare at Naruto. 'Is he acting or is he being himself?' Kakashi thought as Naruto headed to his seat.

Just as Kakashi started giving out worksheets to Hinata and Naruto, an announcement came on, "Everyone come to the auditorium when we call for your class. We have something important to tell you." The voice was calm, but Naruto could detect something else in it though he didn't know what it was.

When his class was called everyone rushed out, not bothering to hide their enthusiasm for getting out of class. Naruto sighed and walked out slowly as he wondered what happened for the whole school to go. He reached the auditorium and sat down. After all the classes where there the vice-principal got onto the stage and started talking, "Everyone, I'm sorry to say but Sarutobi-san, has died from a heart attack. He was in the hospital last night and the hospital just called to tell us…." He continued talking but Naruto wasn't listening anymore. He looked around, 'this is just a joke right? He'll be here tomorrow; he's just sick right now.' Silent tears began running down his face as it finally sunk in. 'The old man isn't going to see me graduate. He won't be able to give me the advice he used to. He, he….' Naruto couldn't think coherently anymore and abruptly got up as he couldn't stand being there anymore. He ran out, and went to his apartment where he would be safe from all the stares of hate from the school officials.

He turned on the radio trying to block out his thoughts and laid down on his bed and he cried. Now he knew why he didn't like getting close to people, you just get hurt in the process. He didn't know how long he lay there, or if he fell asleep. All he knew was that the one person who had really gained his trust had died. He stayed in bed for the rest of the day, not even getting up to go to work. The radio stayed on blasting out songs and though music usually made Naruto feel better, he knew that nothing could fill the empty space in his chest. He felt himself closing himself off. It would only be a matter of time before his mask would be impenetrable again. He realized at just how weak he was and told himself that no one was going to get past his mask. The kindness of Hinata and Kakashi had just been a fluke, they hadn't come help him. Nobody but the old man did. He heard knocking on his door, but he didn't bother getting up. After all, who would come at ten o'clock at night? After awhile the knocking stopped and Naruto smiled softly knowing that whoever it was gave up.

Kakashi was shocked at the announcement, there wasn't one planned for today. He vaguely wondered if it had to do anything with Naruto and Hinata, after all why would they be late for class together? When his class was called, he glanced over at Naruto and saw his expression of fake happiness. But he really was thinking, thanks to watching him ever since the year started and being an ex-cop, he could read Naruto perfectly. He was just wondering what was going on. He arrived at the auditorium and when the vice-principal started talking he felt himself grow cold.

Sarutobi-san, dead? How could that happen? He was perfectly healthy yesterday when he talked to him about Naruto. He looked around the room and found Naruto quickly; after all, blond hair wasn't very common in Japan. He noticed the tears streaming down his face as he looked like he was going to bolt any second now. He jumped up and Kakashi felt compelled to go after him but remembered that he had to stay until all the students were gone from the school.

Kakashi looked around wondering how he got stuck in this meeting. Right now they were discussing on who would be the new principal, that was until he heard his students name in it.

"What are we going to do with the Uzumaki brat for running out of the school? Suspend him or expel him?" The person who said this was smiling as though he won the lottery. Kakashi felt himself snap, why is he talking about him so casually? He saw some other kids running out after hearing the news. He stood up abruptly and told the school board, "Find whoever you want for a principal, but do not take any of your grief or whatever it is you people feel, on my student. He has done nothing wrong to deserve this kind of treatment, maybe before you judge someone you should get to know them first." Kakashi then walked out of the room leaving everyone incredibly scared of him.

Kakashi walked around town for hours, he couldn't believe that he said that. But it was true and he was tired to hear people talk about Naruto like he was some kind of monster. It was dark before he knew it and he found himself over by naruto's apartment. 'I wonder how he's doing, from what Sarutobi told me, they were close.' He stood outside the door and heard music so he pounded on the door trying to get Naruto to hear him. After a few minutes and no sign of the blond, he tried the doorknob and found it open and walked in.

Sorry for taking so long to update and that this chapter is short. I was having trouble writing it and I hope it came out okay. Thank you for the reviews. Please review.


	12. Chapter 12

-1Kakashi stepped into Naruto's apartment, thinking about how careless he was. If people were to attack you late at night, then wouldn't you try to protect yourself somehow? Like locking the door so nobody could come in? He found himself walking quietly through the apartment, towards the quiet sobs that came from a room in the back of the apartment.

He opened the door to find Naruto, without any sort of a mask on, crying his heart out. 'Just like Sarutobi- san told me. They were close.' Kakashi thought as he moved over to Naruto.

"Hey, how you doing?" Kakashi asked softly as he looked at Naruto. Naruto didn't even bother trying to put a mask on, he didn't care anymore. And the fact that Kakashi was there showed he cared enough to check in. 'Maybe Hinata-chan still cares for me to. Maybe she's sad too,' Naruto thought realizing that he wasn't the only one suffering.

"Hey sensei, sorry for making you worry," Naruto told him as he gave him a small sad smile. Kakashi felt relief flood through him, "Do you want to stay the night at my house tonight? Maybe I can help you get through this. After all, I lost all the ones I cared about. And I moved on. Maybe you can visit Hinata-san tomorrow, what do you think?" Kakashi asked watching Naruto's face for a reaction. His face brightened up at the thought of Hinata.

"Oh and there's no school for the rest of the week. We have to find a new principal and the school is giving people a chance to mourn Sarutobi-san." Kakashi told him. Naruto's face turned fearful at the thought of Kabuto finding out and coming back to finish what he started last week. 'Maybe he won't come. Maybe he forgot about me.' Naruto thought as his face lit up with hope. 'I hope my life will start getting better. I can get a new job and somehow get away from Kabuto.' Naruto smiled at that thought and he got up bouncing, liking the positive future that he could create.

The walk to Kakashi's was uneventful, though Naruto kept expecting someone to

come out and attack him. After all, it was the time of night when people came staggering out of bars and since it was the day after his birthday, people would target him. His hand curled over the handle of his guitar case and he shifted the bag on his back. Sure, it was only one night, but he still had to have some clothes to change into.

They stopped in front of a building and Kakashi looked at Naruto, he saw the apprehensive look on his face and in his eyes. 'Even though he's coming over to spend the night at my house, he still doesn't fully trust me.' He sighed. 'What the hell has happened to him to make him like this?' He asked himself as he got his key out and unlocked the door to the building. He started walking up the stairs and noticed Naruto wasn't behind him. "Hey Naruto," Kakashi called to him, "I'm not going to carry you up. You've got legs, so use them." Naruto looked up and with a faint grin on his face he mock saluted and yelled, "yes sir," with so much enthusiasm in his voice Kakashi didn't know if he was faking it or not.

Naruto, when he saw the building, had frozen in fear. Before the apartment he lived in now, he stayed here for a couple of nights with Kabuto. That was when Kabuto was nice to him, when he gained the blonds trust before Kabuto decided to use Naruto. Naruto figured that Kabuto was too busy to do anything with him last time and was planning on something big. So when Kakashi called down to him, he realized that even if Kabuto were to do something here, Kakashi could help him get rid of Kabuto, even if it was just for one night. He did have to force some of the enthusiasm, but other than that it was all real.

When they finally got to Kakashi's apartment, Naruto was back to himself as he looked the building over. It looked the same, but something was different. Naruto shrugged it off and stepped into the apartment after Kakashi.

He heard a very familiar voice yell, "Kakashi, you're late. You were supposed to be here at seven for dinner, and its eleven now." Kakashi waited until he ran out of breath and said, "Calm down Iruka. I just went to pick someone up," he semi-lied. "Oh yeah, well I don't see…" His voice trailed off as Naruto made himself known. "Hey Iruka-Sensei," Naruto grinned as Iruka stood gaping at him. "Who are you?" Iruka asked as he winked at Kakashi when he saw Naruto with his head down. Kakashi, caught on and said, "I think he's one of your students Iruka." Iruka frowned thoughtfully and then said, "Well I do think I have someone with blond hair in my class, but that's a girl and if I'm not mistaken this is a boy." Naruto had enough of being picked on, "Iruka-Sensei," he whined. "Stop it." Iruka looked at Naruto, "Your name has something to do with a ramen topping doesn't it? Or is your name Ramen? I can't remember, help me out a little, huh Kakashi?" Kakashi grinned under his mask as he told Iruka what he wanted to know. "His names Naruto, and I'm pretty sure I've heard you talk about him." Iruka studied Naruto, "You know, now that I think about it, this is Naruto. Wow, you look good. I haven't seen you since Wednesday, well you were in class on Friday but you were sleeping." Iruka glared at Naruto, who backed away from his scary teacher.

Naruto turned to Kakashi and rubbed the back of his head. Kakashi had been watching Naruto long enough to know that when he did that he was either nervous or embarrassed. In this case, it was probably both. "Um, Kakashi-Sensei, where will I sleep?" Naruto asked. Kakashi thought about it for a minute, "We have two rooms. Me and Iruka can sleep together and you can sleep in the other one." Iruka was embarrassed, "Kakashi," he spluttered his face red. He turned to Naruto, "Don't listen to what Kakashi tells you. We're just roommates," Iruka said glaring at Kakashi. "So that means I don't have to listen to him in class?" Naruto asked innocently. "Exactly," Iruka said without thinking about what Naruto said. Naruto grinned and Iruka realized what he just said. "Ah, just go to bed," Iruka said looking away from Naruto. "Um, where?" Naruto asked. "The couch," Iruka snapped his patience wearing thin. "Sheesh, no need to be so snappy," Naruto said heading for what he thought was the living room. Thankfully, it was and he lay down on the couch with a blanket covering him.

The next morning, Naruto woke up to bacon, eggs and was that pancakes? He got up quickly and wandered to where he thought the bathroom was. He unfortunately found Kakashi's room and gasped. His teacher slept with his mask on and a teddy bear? Mentally traumatized for the rest of his life, Naruto finally found the bathroom.

He did what he had to do and found the kitchen, there was Iruka cooking what seemed to be trying to resemble a pancake but was burnt. Naruto sighed, did Kakashi do the cooking? Because he didn't seem like the type of person that would be able to survive off of Iruka's. "Iruka-sensei," Naruto started, "Please step away from the stove before you ruin the whole breakfast." Iruka complied and gave Naruto the spatula. Naruto walked over and started a fresh pancake. He flipped them almost expertly and by the time Kakashi woke up, breakfast was served. "So Iruka-sensei, why are you living at Kakashi-sensei's?" Naruto asked as he ate. Iruka turned red, but answered him. "Well, one day I was cooking and somehow a fire started in my kitchen and by the time I put it out my kitchen had to be fixed." Naruto sweat dropped as he realized that he didn't have to ask that question.

"Hey, where's a phone book?" Naruto asked loudly as he began putting together a plan. Kakashi, who was done, got up and found one and handed Naruto the phone. Naruto nodded his thanks and looked up Hyuuga's. He looked for one that might be Hinata's number and found one that looked possible. He dialed and his heart was beating so loud that he thought the person who had picked up had heard it. "Hello," said a male's voice. "Um, hi. IsHinata-chanthere?" Naruto asked really fast and the guy said, "Can you please repeat that?" Naruto gulped but tried repeating it slower. "Is Hinata-chan there?" The person paused for a second and said, "Yes, would you like to talk to her?" Naruto felt like bashing his head on the table. "Of course I do, you idiot. Now please put her on the phone." He waited what felt like forever but was only a couple of seconds and heard a soft voice say, "Hello?" Naruto felt like cheering, finally, he could ask her. "Hinata-chan, this is Naruto and I was wondering if you'd like to go out on a date with me?" 

Yay, I'm done. Sorry it took three or so weeks to update it, but I've been busy. I put a lot of humor in it. And next chapter will be the date with Naruto and Hinata. This story needs a title, so if you have any suggestions can you please tell me? Please Review.


	13. Chapter 13

-1As Naruto waited for the answer, he looked around Kakashi's apartment. It was something he did when he was on the phone, he didn't know why, but it gave him something to do. Looking around that is. As he was looking at the stove and fridge, he heard a steady and clear answer, "Yes," Naruto was about to shout for joy when he remembered that he was on the phone. "Great Hinata-chan, how about I pick you up at seven and I'll take you somewhere special?" Naruto asked while trying to figure out where to take her. Hinata agreed and they hung up shortly after that.

"So Naruto, where are you going to take her?" Kakashi asked. Naruto jumped, Damnit, he forgot about them. Now he'd have to deal with more teasing, Naruto groaned as he imagined how the next round of teasing would go. It didn't look very nice…..

Naruto ignored Kakashi and wondered why he agreed to come over in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that he was happy that someone cared about him. Or maybe he just didn't want to spend another night alone, especially when it was so close to his birthday. Whatever the reason he felt safe, although the memory of the building was so strong that he was afraid that Kabuto still lived in that apartment and would find him with his two teachers. One of Kabuto's rules was to not have any friends, because they might report Kabuto and Naruto would have no place to go. Or that's what Kabuto said.

Naruto realized that Kakashi was talking to him and he started listening so Kakashi wouldn't get mad and have to say whatever he was saying again. "….Are you going to kiss her Naruto? Or are you just going to hold her hand and then dump her off at her doorstep?" Kakashi was asking.

Naruto decided that walking away would be a good idea by now and he walked out of the room. He picked up his bag and was turned around to see Kakashi. "Before you leave, can we talk?" Naruto hid his surprise and nodded. He sat down and asked nervously, "What do you want to talk about?" Kakashi didn't know how to phrase his questions now that he had to ask them.

"Well first of all, how are you doing in all of your classes?" Kakashi asked trying to build the conversation up to where it needed to be. Naruto frowned but answered, "I think I'm failing them all except gym." He gave a little shudder at that and Kakashi understood what he meant. Hell, he was even scared of his self-proclaimed rival when it came to, well everything. "How is Gai treating you?" Kakashi asked as he got an image in his head with Gai bellowing for everyone to run twenty laps around the field in ten minutes. Naruto chewed on his lip but answered, "He's fine; I mean they're all fine though I can see some of them are annoyed with me being in their class. They haven't done anything, but they would like to." Naruto stopped when he realized that his mask was down and he was telling Kakashi stuff he wouldn't tell anyone. Kakashi noticed but asked another question, "Are you okay?" At Naruto's confused look he elaborated and said, "I mean, are you okay with Sarutobi-san being dead?" There was no nice way of saying it. Naruto looked down and felt regret that he hadn't thought about him since he's been at Kakashi's. He finally looked up with a small sad, smile and said, "He probably wants me to be happy and not be sad about him for too long." Kakashi nodded and asked him, "Why do you show up late for school? I mean your excuses _are_ better than mine and all, but you could just skip couldn't you?" He nearly missed the frightened look that had flashed across his face. Almost. Naruto's face twisted into a semblance of a smile but it looked forced, fake. "I don't want to get into trouble with him," Naruto said, then regretted it. Kakashi's mind whirled with possibilities and started to ask but realized Naruto was at the door. "See you later Kakashi-Sensei, I'm leaving my guitar here so nothing happens to it." Naruto deadpanned as he walked out.

Kakashi sat thinking. 'He's afraid of someone, but who? Is it his guardian? Or is it someone at school?' He was still like that when Iruka found him, 'He must be daydreaming about some girl or girls. Knowing that pervert,' Iruka thought glaring at him. He walked out to grade some tests that his students took on Monday.

Naruto walked to his apartment to drop his stuff off and found that someone decided to graffiti his door with the word brat. He dropped his clothes off and went job hunting. After being kicked out of several stores, there only excuse being, "your alive" he wandered into a restaurant and was prepared to be kicked out. Instead he was seated and had a bowl of what looked like Ramen set in front of him. He gave the waitress a confused look and she laughed as she realized she was being too pushy. "You're our first costumer, and my dad and I had decided that the first costumer would get the first meal free." Naruto nodded but said, "I don't like Ramen." He knew it sounded like a whine but it was true. The waitress looked confused then asked, "Do you eat the cup Ramen?" Naruto nodded and she nodded like that explained everything. "This is different, so eat." Naruto took a hesitant bite and quickly finished. The waitress introduced herself as Ayame and kept giving him bowls until he was full. "Thanks Ayame-nee-san." He looked over at her and asked, "Do you think I could get a job here? I could wash dishes or something." Ayame smiled at him and told him, "I need to ask Father about that. Or he can just come over," she sighed as he was at the booth. "So you're our costumer? I thought we had a crowd since I had to make all those bowls. I tell you what. You can work here until you pay off your meal. The name's Teuchi by the way. Welcome to Ichiraku's…" Naruto told him his name, "Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." Teuchi stuck out his hand, "It's nice to meet you Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled and told him the same. Naruto suddenly looked at the clock and told them, "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." He ran off towards Konoha Park, where he was supposed to meet up with Hinata.

He spotted her sitting on a bench and ran over apologizing, "Sorry, I'm late Hinata-chan. I was job hunting and where do you want to go?" He was about to apologize again when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. "It's fine Naruto-kun. There's a festival going on in town, so lets go to that." Naruto nodded and held out his hand to help pull her up when he saw Neji. "Hey Neji-san," Naruto called knowing the older boy had seen them. "What are you doing?" Neji's question was asked angrily. Naruto flinched but pulled Hinata up and making sure he didn't hurt her by pulling to hard, told Neji, "We're going to the festival. On a date," Naruto hadn't meant for that to slip out but didn't think anything about it. "Then I'm going with you," Neji told him. Naruto frowned and said, "Sorry, I like girls. Not boys." He started walking with Hinata and Neji followed them saying, "I'm just going to keep an eye on my baby cousin. Make sure you don't do anything to her."

When they got to the festival Naruto let Hinata pick the games and bought her something to munch on. When they got to the goldfish stand Naruto smiled at Hinata encouragingly and she felt confident to try to catch a fish. Naruto paid and she missed on the first two. On the third try she would have fallen in, if Naruto hadn't caught her at the right time. He smiled and started singing, "I will never let you fall, I'll stand up with you forever, I'll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to Heaven." Hinata smiled as she recognized the song and blushed at the same time.

"Now I'll show you how to do it," Naruto announced loudly. He paid for three tries and the first two missed and he was about to try again when he saw Kabuto and felt fear go threw him.


	14. Chapter 14

I'm going to have Kakashi tell Naruto about his parents in this chapter

I'm going to have Kakashi tell Naruto about his parents in this chapter. Should I use their real names or should I make something up? I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Kitsunelover7


	15. Chapter 15

-1Naruto panicked. Had Kabuto seen him? He hoped not. He looked at Hinata who was looking at him worriedly. He smiled and told her excitedly, "I'm going to catch a fish for you Hinata-chan!" He grabbed the net and made widely exaggerated circles and then felt someone staring at him. He wanted to look up, but he was close to getting a fish. When he caught the fish he smiled proudly at Hinata, and put the fish into the bag that the vendor offered him.

He looked across the street and a troubled expression crossed his face as he saw Kabuto watching him while talking to Orochimaru. He felt a shiver run down his spine and forced himself to look away from him.

He turned to Hinata and gave her a wide fake grin. "So what are we going to do now Hinata-chan?" he asked her as he took her hand and started walking in a random direction. "Stop it," Hinata's voice was so soft Naruto didn't hear what she said. "Huh? What was that Hinata-chan?" he asked as he stopped, making the pedestrians yell at him and walk around him.

"I said stop it!" Hinata yelled at him. Naruto blinked, trying to look innocent. "Stop what? What are you talking about Hinata-chan?"

"Stop that! Stop trying to act ignorant about everything that happens to you. Take tonight for example, everybody overcharged you for a game or food, and you just took it. You didn't protest, you had just accepted it." Hinata was crying now.

Naruto took her in his arms and suggested, "Why don't we go somewhere private? My apartment is off limits, so what about Kakashi-sensei's? I'll tell you and him everything that you want to know. I'm sick of all of this lying. Someone needs to know." he said his eyes downcast as he tried to block out the tears. He felt Hinata nod her head and he let go of her so they could walk to Kakashi's.

Neji witnessed the breakdown of Hinata. Who didn't? It was rare that the shy, Hyuuga heiress yelled, let alone break down in front of everyone. He once again wondered if Hinata was being abused by her father. He noticed that Hinata and Naruto were leaving and moved to follow them. 'I gotta keep an eye on Hinata. I don't need her ruining the Hyuuga name,' he lied to himself. He was trying to convince himself that he didn't care about her, but every time he saw Naruto hold her hand, he felt angry, protective of his little cousin.

Naruto took Hinata up to Kakashi's apartment and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes the door opened and Iruka's anxious face peered through the crack and when he saw who it was, he sighed, "come on in, you two. If you're here to see Kakashi, you'll need to wait. He left about five hours ago so he should be back in a few minutes. He said he'd be gone for a few minutes when he left so he should be home by now." Iruka rubbed his sleep filled eyes and looked down at them. "I'm going back to bed, so no making babies on the couch while you're alone." Naruto smiled, "You've been hanging out with Kakashi-sensei to much, Iruka-sensei," he told him laughing.

Iruka blinked and shuddered at the thought. He yawned and turned back to go to bed. He left Naruto and Hinata alone.

Naruto brought Hinata into the living room where they sat down. He covered his face with his hands and hid his face. He was finally going to tell somebody what was actually happening, and he would hopefully get support from everybody.

He let out a light chuckle as he realized that they left Neji behind. He smirked, thinking about Neji left outside in the cold, dark snowy night freezing. He shook his head; he was fantasizing about Neji freezing to death in the snow, when it wasn't even snowy out.

He blushed when he felt Hinata's confused look directed at him. He looked away, thinking that his face must've invented a new shade of red.

Hinata looked at him, her face getting red too. 'Naruto-kun is so hot,' she thought as she looked him over. She could see the muscle under his tight black shirt and his blond hair was messy as though he had just been running.

She was interrupted in her musings when the door opened. Kakashi walked in and he saw their red faces and immediately thought they did something romantically until he walked in.

"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" He asked, noticing Naruto stiffen and then mutter something that sounded something like "Pervert".

"Well, why are you two lovebirds here then?" Kakashi asked. Hinata blushed at the word lovebirds. "Well, Naruto-kun told me that he wanted to tell me and you everything we wanted to know." Hinata told Kakashi without the slightest stutter in her voice.

"Is that so?" Kakashi drawled as he looked at Naruto. "Well then, tell me if you two have ever kissed." Naruto scowled, "Not like that! Pervert. I meant about my living conditions. Has it ever occurred to you why no one else has been in my apartment when you have been there?" Kakashi blinked. Now that he mentioned it…

"Sorry to say, but no. I can't say I have noticed. Maybe I thought they were just working or something. I didn't really pay to much attention to that." Kakashi told him thinking about the condition of the apartment and that there had been no signs of anyone else living there.

"Well I'm happy you came here tonight. Because I found out who your parents were." Naruto looked up with interest and Hinata found herself wanting to give them privacy. She started getting up, but Naruto grabbed her wrist and told her, "You asked why I ignore people who overcharge me; this is something you'll want to listen to as well then." Hinata nodded, wondering if Naruto just wanted her there for support.

"Well, your father's name was Minato Namikaze and your mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki. Your father was the mayor and he had gotten a gang in trouble and they were angry at him so they plotted a plan to hurt him. Kidnap his wife or something. But Minato over-reacted and went after his wife himself. Your mother was okay, just a little shaken up. Minato snuck in there at night and tried to get your mother, but one of the guards heard noise and without thinking shot him. Unfortunately, the shot went into his lungs and he had collapsed and died a few minutes later. Your mother was set free, and a few months later she had you and killed herself." Kakashi looked up tears brimming in his eyes. "I killed your father, Naruto. I was young and was told that there was a blank in the gun and just to scare him. I never thought that there must've been a real bullet in the gun. I was only fourteen then." Kakashi looked up with a look of guilt and regret.

Something inside of Naruto exploded and he drew his fist back and punched Kakashi in the chest, where he imagined his father was hit with the bullet. All the while, he was yelling, "I'll kill you. You killed my father and now I'll kill you." Anger had taken over him and he ignored Hinata's pleas to stop.

Then a strong pair of arms took a hold of his and a voice was saying, "Naruto, calm down." Naruto struggled for a few more minutes, but then stopped. He looked at Kakashi and snarled, "If Iruka-Sensei wasn't holding me back, you'd be dead by now."

Kakashi looked at Naruto and wondered if he was right to tell him that so soon. Naruto had lowered his head and when he looked up, his eyes were cold and his voice betrayed no emotion. "You are the reason I have no parents. You are worse than the people who overcharge me for anything I buy. You are the reason my life was so miserable. I must have been considered bad luck or something. First my father dies then after my mom has me a few months later, she kills herself." He snorted with disdain, "No wonder people were afraid to take me in, they were afraid to die. When I finally get taken in, it's by this sadist who likes to inject different drugs in me and rapes me every time I do something bad."

Naruto broke free of Iruka's grasp, as it had loosened when he telling Kakashi about Kabuto, and ran out the door to a place that he felt brought him some safety.

I was going to make this longer, but it turned out differently than what I had planned. I wasn't going to have Kakashi kill Minato, but it just turned out that way. Please review.


	16. Chapter 16

-1Hinata, after hearing and seeing Naruto run off, was indecisive as to what to do. Iruka, after noticing her look, told her, "Go after him, Hinata-san, I'll take care of Kakashi," he gestured to a man that greatly resembled Kakashi, but was acting nothing like him. He had his head in his hands and was muttering, "I didn't mean to kill him, Naruto. I didn't mean to."

Hinata nodded and took off after Naruto. She ran down the stairs and looked around and realized she didn't know which way Naruto went. She then spotted a familiar figure, "Neji-san, do you know which way Naruto-kun went?" Hinata asked managing not to stutter even though she was nervous about asking her cousin a simple question like that. Neji straightened and asked, "Why, did you two get in a fight?" almost teasingly. "No," the once confident girl stuttered as she blushed. Neji smirked, picking on his cousin was fun, but it seemed important to her, so he decided to be nice and tell her. Hinata nodded and ran off, hoping that she would be able to find him.

She ran for what seemed to be miles, but it was only a few blocks, when she heard the sound of someone pleading and crying. She slowed down and strained to hear what was being said. But the only sounds that she could hear were, the crying and the sound of someone being hit. She tensed every time flesh hit flesh, for her father liked to beat her in a drunken rage, all the while telling her how weak and pathetic she was and always taunted her to fight back. Soon the beating stopped and Hinata felt relief flood her body. But then a yell sounded out, and Hinata recognized the voice, "Naruto-kun," she whispered as her knees grew weak.

'Why would someone want to hurt Naruto-kun?' she thought as her body started moving on its own.

She stood at the end of the alley and summoned up her courage to call out, but before she did she heard a voice say, or sneer, "Didn't I tell you that you can't have friends? So what are you doing going out with a girl? An ugly girl no less."

Naruto had finally had enough of Kabuto, "I don't care what you say about me," he yelled, "But leave Hinata-chan out of this, you bastard!"

Naruto swung his fist to hit Kabuto, but he just jumped away landing lightly on his feet. "If you if say anything about the girl I love again, I'll kill you!"

Hinata felt her heart stop for a few seconds, then she gasped as her brain processed the information she just heard.

Kabuto heard the gasp and turned away from Naruto as he tried to figure out where it came from, just then he felt a slam in one of his kidneys. He fell down as Naruto stood above him triumphant.

"Let me live my life from now on, Kabuto-san. And maybe I won't put you in the hospital for the rest of your life," he sneered the last part and walked away leaving a motionless Kabuto laying on the ground, the only part that moved was his chest as he breathed in and out.

Naruto walked slowly trying not to wince as he moved, showing Kabuto that he was stronger than he looked. He reached the end of the alley and stepped out, almost knocking Hinata over. His eyes widened and he stopped and leaned up against a wall and looked at her with an expression of sadness.

"I… didn't want you to worry about me. I wanted to keep this a secret," he waved his hand at himself and where Kabuto was laying unconscious. Hinata nodded in understanding, she kept her father abusing her mentally and physically a secret, so she understood.

"I know this is an awkward way to tell you, but I love you and I want you to wait until I can sort my life out. It may take awhile but hopefully by then I'll be safe and living freely. That's one of my goals in life, and the others are to be respected for who _I_ am now and not what I was in the past. My other one is to be loved for who I am, no matter what happens to me or whatever crazy things I do," he said in a somber, monotone voice.

Hinata just looked at him with something in her eyes that he had never seen aimed at him before, love.

"Naruto-kun," she said, "If I didn't like you, I wouldn't have come to realize the determination you have to get respect from our classmates, or let you kiss me," she said stumbling over her words and shaking as she lifted her lips up to Naruto's and kissed him as he stood there shocked and felt his cheeks growing warm, 'Hinata-chan…is…kissing… me,' was all that he could think.

Hinata realized what she was doing and jerked back, her cheeks a flaming red. 'I just…kissed Naruto-kun,' she thought and with that she fainted as shock sunk in.

Naruto started as he saw Hinata's body falling backwards. He reached out to grab her and missed, his eyes widening as she continued to fall to the ground. He dived down, his body on top of hers as he caught her in his arms before she hit the ground. He let out a relieved sigh until he heard a condescending voice above him, "I leave you two alone for ten minutes and this is what I see you doing to my cousin while she's unconscious?"

Naruto almost jumped up, but remembered Hinata and gently laid her down and stood to face Neji. "She just fainted for some reason, and I just caught her," Naruto told him, wondering why he had to explain himself to Neji.

He could have sworn he just saw Neji roll his eyes and mutter sarcastically, "Yeah, right." Dragging the right out and everything.

Naruto picked her up bridle style and asked, "Do you where a safe place is so we can talk?"

Neji looked him over and asked, "What happened to the last place you where at?" Naruto looked nervous, "I just found out who my fathers killer was. I'm not going back for a while."

He heard Neji's sharp intake of breath and knew the question before he asked. "No, I'm not telling you who it was, and they did not hurt me. Despite the bruises on me right now. That was someone else."

He began walking in a random direction when Neji decided to be nice and suggest his place. Naruto followed Neji and found them outside an apartment complex.

Neji seeing his raised eyebrow told him, "Just because I'm a Hyuuga doesn't mean I have to live rich. I just don't like what the clan head stands for."

Naruto nodded in understanding and walked behind Neji as soon as he got his door open, and set Hinata on the couch after he found the living room.

He walked to the door to leave, but stopped when he heard Neji ask him, "Would you like to spend the night here tonight?" He turned to see Neji fidgeting and looked at him quizzically. He almost asked why, but looked down at himself after Neji gestured at him. Blood was splattered on his shirt and he probably had a bunch of bruises. In short, he looked like a mess.

His shoulders slumped and he nodded warily, wondering why Neji even bothered to ask him. It didn't seem right to him, but he figured he was tired and he decided not to question it any further.

He blinked when clothes were thrown at him; he could have sworn Neji was in the room with him this whole time. Shaking it off, he followed Neji into the bathroom and listened to his explanation of where everything was.

He took a quick shower, and got dressed in the surprisingly fitting clothes and as he walked out looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes stuck out at him the most. Were they used to look carefree because of his mask; they now looked hurt and filled with anger at the world around him. He knew when he went back to school on Tuesday; his mask wouldn't be back in place. He was through with lying to everyone and wanted to show everyone what they had done to him.

He walked out of the bathroom and found Neji sitting on the couch thinking. He sat next to him and noticed Hinata wasn't there.

"Where's Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked softly. Neji started in surprise, but answered.

"In the guest bedroom, you can sleep on the couch tonight." Naruto nodded in understanding and asked him, "Why'd you want me to stay over here? I could have gone home, you know."

Neji looked at him and said, "I want to see how you two act when nobody's there to judge either of you."

Naruto nodded in understanding and gave a small smile, "Mind if I sleep now? I've had a long day today."

Neji turned red from embarrassment, but got up so Naruto could lay down and sleep.

A/N: Please review.


	17. Chapter 17

-1The next morning, Naruto woke up with a blanket covering him and realized he was on an unfamiliar couch and apartment. He panicked for a few seconds, but remembered when the sleep lifted from his thoughts.

'Oh yeah, I'm at Neji-san's apartment. Why the hell do I keep waking up in different apartments these days?' he asked himself thinking about the last time when he woke up in Kakashi's and Iruka's apartment.

He sat up, noticing that a majority of his wounds were almost healed, save for a couple of bad bruises. He stretched, looking for any pain from being hit. After feeling a few minor sore spots, he stood up and folded the blanket and put it on the back of the couch to be polite.

He walked into the kitchen to see Neji sitting down eating cereal. Neji pointed to the cupboards and the drawer in which the silverware was in.

Naruto pulled the cereal down, Cheerios, 'Can this guy be any duller than that? Cheerios are the lowest of the low for cereal.' he thought as he looked around for sugar to put in it.

"It was fate that we met there last night," Neji suddenly said as he made Naruto jump out of his musings.

"Why do you say its fate? Why can't you just say you followed Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked him as he found the sugar and began heaping spoonfuls on it.

When he drowned the whole bowl in sugar, he sat down to eat it.

"Because everybody's lives are controlled by destiny, and you can't change it."

Naruto rose up in his seat and told him, albeit a little angrily, "If fate or destiny or whatever the hell controlled my life, then I would still be living in fear of Kabuto and I wouldn't be here or have made friends with Hinata-chan or anyone else."

Neji looked at him steadily, "You did that before, didn't you? You were afraid to change your way of living, but when you met people you trust, you began to change. Your fate wasn't to live in fear, but to live in happiness. Therefore, your whole life has been planned out to be a loser who somehow finds happiness."

Naruto slammed his hands on the table, "Damnit, there is no such thing as a predetermined path for everyone. You make your own path and live the way you want to." his voice had escalated into a yell.

Neji just sat there and continued eating as if he hadn't heard Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," a quiet voice said. Naruto turned. "Hinata-chan, you're up!" he exclaimed, running over to hug her.

Hinata turned red but stayed up, her light eyes flitting over the kitchen and landing on Naruto's bowl of sugar coated Cheerios. Her arms lifted up to return the hug although she was shaking from the thought of it.

Before she could though, Naruto stepped away and her arms fell to her sides. She hid her disappointment and got herself a bowl of Cheerios.

She ate her breakfast, listening to Neji and Naruto argue about if fate was real or not. She smiled softly and would have giggled at their antics if she wasn't eating.

She finished and walked into the living room where Naruto and Neji had continued their argument. The only seat available was next to Naruto and she sat down with a blush on her face.

She knew she'd have to get used to doing simple things around Naruto eventually, but right now she'd deal with her heart speeding up every time she looked at him and the blush she seemed to sport every time she thought of him.

Naruto turned over to Hinata and smiled in a "I'm going to win and Neji can't do anything about it" way.

"Hinata-chan," he started, "Do you think our lives are predetermined or do you think we can make our own path?"

Hinata looked down and played with her hands, "Well I think that there's someone up there, but we can make our own paths," she stuttered out as she forcefully looked him in his blue never ending eyes.

He let out a big smile that, Hinata realized with a jolt, was genuine.

'He's seriously having fun,' she realized, 'He doesn't have to fake enthusiasm. He's just being himself. Maybe what I said yesterday sunk in.'

While Hinata was pondering about Naruto, the said boy was busy gloating at Neji who looked like he wanted to desperately cover his ears but was too polite to do so in front of company.

After a little while, Naruto declared that he was going to leave and after he left Neji turned to Hinata and asked, "He's a good kid and all, but…" he fought for words, each previous word failing him. He took a deep breath and continued. "How in _hell_ can you stand him?"

Hinata gave a tiny smile and shrugged not knowing that the next time she saw Naruto would be at school.

A/N: Sorry that it's so short. I want Naruto to get back to school and to the funeral. The funeral will be next chapter and he'll go back to school the chapter after that.


	18. Chapter 18

Naruto woke up to see black. He blinked and moved his sleep filled eyes up to see a person's back and brown hair.

He jumped out of the bed yelling and the person that was in bed with him woke up and stared wide eyed at him until Naruto could form a coherent sentence and yell at him, "Who the hell are you? Why are you sleeping in the same bed as me that Gaara-san had let me use, because his brother was out of town for a few days?"

The person yelled back equally as loud, "Isn't that _my_ question? Who are you? And I think you answered your last question yourself." he huffed and glared at the blond.

Naruto thought back to the conversation and realized, "_You're _Gaara's brother. The doll lover."

"I'm not a doll lover, I'm a ventriloquist, and my name is Kankuro," Kankuro told him and looked at him suspiciously, "I still don't know your name."

"The name's Naruto, and don't forget it," Naruto told him, puffing out his chest in pride.

"Whatever, Baruto," Kankuro told him crossing his arms over his chest. He gave the blond a glance, "You still haven't told me why you're here yet."

"Hehe," Naruto laughed nervously, "Well you see, I'm not going to tell you."

Naruto then looked at the door and smiled as he saw Gaara staring at them while eating a cookie.

"Gaara-san, thank you for letting me stay with you even though we just met the other day." Naruto told him, jumping up and down in happiness.

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow and told him in a guttural voice, "You can stay as long as you want, if you tell me why you're here." His brow furrowed as he continued, "You don't seem like the kind of person that looks for help unless you really need it."

Naruto was surprised at how quickly Gaara had figured him out but nodded nonetheless.

He walked out into the living room, Gaara and Kankuro following him. He sat down and after they sat down started talking.

"I guess I'll start with my past and work my way to the present," Naruto told them as he thought about where he was going to start.

He bit his lip, seemingly spacing out, but just recalling the memories that he had tried to suppress over the years.

He frowned, but started, "Before I was born, my father, Minato Namikaze, was the mayor. There was a gang that wanted to have revenge on him because he had gotten them into trouble. So they kidnapped my mother, Kushina Uzumaki, and I guess hurt my father mentally. Maybe it was because he felt guilty for not protecting her, I don't know. But my father had rushed in and one of the guards had accidentally shot him."

Kankuro interrupted him, "How do you know he was accidentally shot? Did the person that shot him tell you that?"

Naruto nodded thinking about what happened two nights ago. "Yeah, he just told me. I suppose he'll go to jail if I report him. I'm not sure I will though. He hasn't done anything to me but help me. Though he did kill the mayor." he let his voice trail off.

He got back to the story, "A few months later, my mother had me and then killed herself." He was interrupted by Kankuro again, "why did she kill herself when she had an infant to take care of? I mean that's a lot of responsibility, especially one like Gaara. I can imagine what you'd be like." He ducked his head to avoid Naruto's and Gaara's fists, but was too slow. He rubbed his head in pain and let Naruto continue his story.

"If I knew why she killed herself, I'd tell you. By now I was considered bad luck, I guess because I killed my mother and people's mothers who die in child birth are considered monsters and bad luck. And since nobody knew that she committed suicide, they turned the blame onto me and wouldn't want to adopt me. I grew up hearing people whispering scornfully about me and calling me brat and demon brat all the time."

Kankuro spoke up when he stopped for breath, "You know, our father didn't like Gaara because our mother died while giving birth to this runt. So me an' Temari had to take care of him even though we were afraid of him as well." His usually mischievous eyes were solemn, while he thought back to the way he treated his brother.

Naruto continued, "I spent my life in the orphanage and was fostered only a few times over the years. When I was twelve, a man whose name is Kabuto fostered me and though I was only supposed to stay in his care for only a year, it's been over three. But now, I have people that I can call friends and basically told Kabuto to stay out of my life and beat him up. Now I'm avoiding Kabuto, who might want to punish me for hurting him and Kakashi-sensei who killed my father and who would want to ask for my forgiveness." he finished and dared a look at them. He saw their looks and thought, 'They don't believe me. Well, I guess I'll leave now. No use in trying to get on their good sides now.'

He went to get up, but felt a stare on him. He painfully looked up, thinking they wouldn't want him there.

Instead, Gaara asked him a question, "What did Kabuto do to you? You never did tell us."

Naruto stiffened, should he tell them? He closed his eyes and started speaking while reliving the memories of what was done to him.

"He, he treated me as someone lower than him and ordered me around and if I didn't do as I was told, he would either inject a medicine into me that was being tested on mice then. Or he would rape me and remind me who got me out of the orphanage." he bit his lip, wincing as he remembered something.

He was taken out of his trance by Kankuro getting up. He looked up and saw that his face was shrouded in anger.

Naruto shrank back in fright and cowered under Kankuro's stare.

"Why did you let him do that stuff to you?" Kankuro ground out in anger.

Naruto stiffened. Why? Sure, he had tried fighting back, but after a while he gave up and let Kabuto do whatever he wanted.

He bit his lip nervously, feeling the metallic taste of blood on his tongue.

Naruto continued gnawing on his lip and answered, "I…don't know. I had tried fighting, but I just gave up. I guess I thought it would be easier that way."

With that, he got up and stretched. He had been sitting for about two hours straight, and he wasn't used to sitting still for long periods of time.

He walked around, glancing at the clock in the kitchen and picked up the newspaper and flipped through it disinterestedly. He stopped when he saw a familiar name. Kyo Sarutobi. He quickly read through the obit, and saw that the funeral was at Konoha funeral home. He looked at the date and time and realized that it was going to start in fifteen minutes.

He rushed over to Gaara and after stumbling over his words several times, he managed to ask him where the funeral home was.

Gaara then offered to take him there on his bike, and after Naruto agreed, Kankuro walked in and told him, "If you're riding with my little brother here," he nodded at Gaara, "You should hang on for your life."

Gaara glared at Kankuro, and Naruto just laughed. "He's not _that _bad. Not yet, anyway."

Gaara turned to Naruto with the same look on his face. Naruto pretended to be afraid of him; he knew Gaara wouldn't do anything to him. He hid behind Kankuro, so the doll lover would get the full brunt of the glare.

Kankuro twitched and sighed as he turned around to face Naruto. "Weren't you going somewhere? And what's with that outfit? If you're going to a funeral, then you wear black, not white. That's for weddings."

Naruto looked down at his jeans and white shirt that had a spiral on it. He looked at Kankuro, and snapped, "Well, sorry for not having any black clothes. I'm not emo, like you." He said referring to Kankuro's black baggy clothes and make up.

Kankuro's eyes narrowed. How dare he insult his war paint? He didn't like the kid to begin with after finding him in his bed this morning. Though, he was to blame since he went to bed without turning the light on, and didn't bother undressing.

Naruto turned when he heard footsteps behind him. He was surprised that Gaara had left the room, let alone get clothes for him.

"ah, thanks Gaara-san," Naruto told him shyly as he wasn't used to so many people being nice to him in a short period of time.

He quickly changed and jumped on the motorcycle, just barely wrapping his arms around the boy, when they took off.

When they got there, the funeral hadn't started yet, due to a slide show being shown. He found a seat in the back and tried to hide from everyone. The feeling in the funeral home was somber, oppressive.

He looked around and saw Iruka, Asuma, a man with long white hair and two red thin markings on his face, and a big busted woman with long blonde hair.

The minister walked up, and turned off the projector and started the funeral by saying, "We are gathered here today to reminisce the life of Kyo Sarutobi…" He continued on, and Naruto hung onto every word.

He closed his eyes and tried picturing his principal doing things when he was younger. One of Asuma's memories of him was when he had convinced him that he could read a crystal ball, when the "crystal ball" was just a round piece of glass that someone made his father.

Naruto opened his eyes when the service was done. His eyes, usually full of life and energy, were now lifeless. And his face, which was usually smiling because of his mask, was filled with a sorrow so deep, that Iruka didn't recognize him when he looked around the room.

Naruto silently stood, and edged toward the door, when Iruka make a beeline towards him.

"Naruto-kun, you came!" he exclaimed while looking him over. "Where have you been these last few days? I've been looking all over for you."

Surprise flickered across Naruto's face for a few seconds, and then it was sorrow filled once more.

"Where's Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked, his voice strangled from holding back tears.

Iruka's face fell, "W-well, you see. After he confessed to you the other night, he felt so guilty that he turned himself in. So I imagine he's in jail now."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, he didn't expect anyone to feel guilty on his behalf. And though he was mad at Kakashi, he remembered all the times that the man had helped him.

The conversation was interrupted by Asuma, who came over to talk to Naruto.

"Well, I haven't seen you around lately. Skipping class now, are you?" Naruto just sighed; he was worn out from everything.

"What do you want, Asuma-sensei?"

Asuma grinned lazily, "I just wanted to know how the only student failing my class, gets an advanced question right," he told him drawling his words out.

Naruto frowned as he didn't want to continue the conversation, but did anyway.

"It was in the book. I memorized the book, because I have a photographic memory and I answered your question," Naruto shifted nervously, "Can I go now?" he asked exasperation evident in his voice.

Asuma nodded and Naruto made it outside to be blocked by the man and woman he saw earlier.

"Naruto Uzamaki?" The big breasted woman asked him as she stepped forward.

A/N: Please review.


	19. Chapter 19

Naruto looked at the woman warily, not allowing himself to trust anybody that was older than him. He didn't know what their opinions were about him and he honestly didn't want to find out.

He nodded and the woman started speaking, "Well, my name is Tsunade and this is Jiraiya, who is your godfather."

Naruto looked a little interested, but boredom was rolling off of him in waves and he was sure they could feel it.

He finally spoke, "And why, pray tell, should I believe you?"

Tsunade flinched, but glared at him and said, "Because brat, I'm telling you the truth."

Naruto started a comeback, but stopped when he heard his stomach growling. He flushed and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, while stuttering out that he didn't have anything to eat that morning.

They headed over to Ichiraku's at Naruto's suggestion, and when they got there, Naruto kind of smirked and told Teuchi, the owner, "He's paying," while pointing at Jiraiya.

Teuchi started rubbing his hands together greedily with a certain glint in his eye.

Jiraiya had a bad feeling about it, but chose to ignore it, at least until he got the bill.

--Spiritslayer's Writing--

As they sat down, Naruto looked at Tsunade carefully, and then allowed his eyes to shift to Jiraiya. "So you're my godfather, huh?" he said, obviously not believing it.

Jiraiya gave a nod. "I'm guessing you'd much rather I weren't."

Naruto diverted his attention long enough to order, and then gave Jiraiya a somewhat spiteful grin. "Pretty much. Why should I have to believe that you're my godfather? And for reasons other than 'I'm telling you the truth'," he added, glancing at Tsunade.

Tsunade said nothing, but instead chose to think of the numerous ways she could knock Naruto around without actually seriously hurting him.

"Well, you don't have to believe it if you don't want to, but facts are facts." Jiraiya leaned back, arms crossing.

"You'd do well to believe it, brat," Tsunade finally said, trying to resist the urge to hit him upside the head. Hard.

--Kitsunelover7's writing--

Naruto just contently finished his bowl, and put it off to the side, where Ayame, Teuchi's daughter, picked it up and replaced it with a fresh one. Naruto nodded in thanks, happy that Jiraiya didn't see the exchange.

He swallowed his first gulp and turned back to his claimed "godfather."

"So, how can you prove that you're my," he stopped in mid-sentence to glance at Tsunade who's face was red and she was choking.

"Are you alright? Granny? Naruto asked as he hurried over to pat her on the back only to find that Jiraiya was already doing it.

After Tsunade stopped choking, she glared at Naruto, and asked him in a low voice, "What did you say, brat?"

Naruto was unfazed by her, and repeated the question, this time noticing a vein popping out of her forehead in anger.

He slowly backed away, and sat down to finish his already cold bowl. He finished it to keep his mouth shut and then turned back to Jiraiya.

"As I was asking, how can you prove that you're my Godfather?" He gave Jiraiya a level stare, slightly freaking the man out.

Jiraiya gulped, but answered, "Well I-I don't have any concrete proof, but he did tell me while I was doing research. But maybe it's on the camera I was using," he let his voice trail off as he thought back to when he was told.

Tsunade looked at him in disbelief, "Peeking in on woman's bath houses is not research."

Naruto sighed as he started on a fresh bowl, not regarding the fact that it was his seventh one and Jiraiya still didn't notice his seemingly never ending supply of ramen even after Jiraiya had finished his long ago.

"Great," Naruto mumbled under his breath, "I have a pervert of a godfather who likes to tape woman in bath houses." He was loud enough for Jiraiya to hear him, making Jiraiya clench his fist in anger.

'The brat has it all wrong,' Jiraiya thought angrily.

"Damnit kid!" Jiraiya all but roared, "I'm not a pervert. I'm a super pervert."

Naruto felt something inside of him snap. "That's even worse," he yelled back at him, happy that the restaurant was only occupied by the three of them and Teuchi and his daughter.

Jiraiya just looked at him and turned away in disappointment, "I guess Minato's son was not taught the right way. After all, peeking on women in the bath houses is the only way to pass the time and do research." he sighed.

Naruto sighed, and tried counting to ten so he wouldn't explode on the man that was openly saying he was a pervert. He got to ten and let out a deep breath that he was holding and his whole body visibly relaxed.

He turned to Tsunade and asked, "If that perverted hermit over there is my godfather, then why didn't he come to visit me? To check up on me?"

There was desperation and anger swirling around in him and it showed in his voice and eyes.

Jiraiya cringed when he heard the anger in Naruto's voice. Was it really that bad of a childhood for him? What about his mom, Kushina? Wasn't she taking care of the brat?

Tsunade frowned, and told him, "I don't know. Why don't you ask Jiraiya? He's supposed to be your godfather."

Naruto leaned forward as though trying to be secretive and told her in a voice loud enough to be heard by Jiraiya, "Well, I don't really trust him to much. Even though he openly admits to being a pervert," with that he shot Jiraiya a glare. He continued, "Too much shit has happened in my life and with him not even checking up on me, his godson, I don't think he would be a good guardian."

He leaned back as he watched Jiraiya's face twist into a mixture of guilt and anger. Well he deserved it for not being there for him over the years.

Jiraiya tried to talk, but his words kept getting caught in his throat. Finally, he managed a coherent sentence, "What about your mother? Isn't she taking care of you?"

Naruto snorted lightly, "Yeah, right. If you count her being dead since the day I was born as "Taking" care of me. She did a fine job," his voice was sarcastic.

Jiraiya looked at him in disbelief, "Kushina is dead? How did she die?" His voice was shaking as he asked the questions.

Naruto shrugged, and told him, "According to my English teacher, Kakashi, she killed herself. He found that out after shortly after he killed my father."

Jiraiya was confused, "But Naruto, the man who killed your father, his name is Orochimaru. He wanted to become mayor and your father got the job, so he killed him when he had his wife kidnapped. I should know, I was working as a spy in the gang and watched him kill him. I had given Kakashi a toy gun that looked real, and so he couldn't have killed him. Anyway, Kakashi thought of Minato as a father. I don't even know why he was in the gang to start with, but he must have his reasons."

Naruto's eyes widened as what he heard sunk in. He looked at Jiraiya trying to determine if he was joking or not, but the serious look on his face told him that he wasn't.

He let out a true smile as he realized that Kakashi was innocent and he wouldn't have to feel guilty for something he didn't do. But then a thought came to him, "Then, why isn't Orochimaru in jail now? Did it ever go to court?"

Jiraiya's face turned grim, and he sat back with his arms folded, "It would have gone to court if I wasn't in a coma," he said glancing at Tsunade who was currently ignoring them.

Naruto grinned, "She caught you peeking in the bath houses while she was in it, didn't she?"

Jiraiya paled and winced while whispering, "The pain, the pain."

Tsunade shifted, she wasn't used to sitting for so long and being ignored. "So brat," she began, "Do you want to spend the rest of the day with us and maybe sleep over at our house tonight? It's your choice to make."

Naruto nodded carefully, looking over at Jiraiya, "You're going to pay the bill, right?" he asked.

Jiraiya felt his stomach twist in a feeling of uneasiness, but shrugged it off. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' he thought as he nodded. Naruto smiled, and waited for Jiraiya to walk up to the counter and pay, to smirk.

He only had to wait a few seconds to hear Jiraiya's outraged yell, and after the bill was paid and Jiraiya's wallet empty, Naruto ran as Jiraiya chased after him yelling obscenities. Tsunade only got up and followed them, walking slowly.

--

Naruto walked into school, feeling much better than he ever had. He had spent the rest of the vacation, if that's what it's called, with Jiraiya and Tsunade. Over the course of his stay, he learned that Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru were all classmates when they went to school. They were all at the top of their class and at that time, Sarutobi was their teacher.

Naruto was broken out of his trance like state, to feel and see people looking at him incredulously. He smirked and thought, 'They're probably waiting for me to yell out or something. That, or if I did a really big prank. I'm usually silent when I do a big prank. So that could be it.'

He walked into his first period class, not really expecting anyone to be there. Well, teacher wise anyway. He headed over to his desk, not really noticing the person up front and turned to find Hinata at her desk with a sad looking face. He frowned and walked over to try and cheer her up.

"Hey Hinata-chan. What's up?" he asked softly, as to not startle her.

She looked up and smiled sadly, "Over the weekend, my dad was arrested on the terms of abuse."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Did he, you know, abuse you?" He asked, reluctant to ask the question, but he felt like he had to.

She nodded and tears started to fall softly from her eyes.

Naruto unintentionally swore loudly, "Bastard. Why would someone want to hurt you, Hinata? You're nice, unselfish, and the most beautiful girl in the world. Nobody else can compare with you," he exclaimed, loud enough for everyone to hear him complimenting her. She blushed from the attention and his words. She also realized that, that was the first time he had said her name without an honorific after it.

Naruto took her hand and was about to leave with her when a voice behind him said, "Well this is nice and all, but we have an assembly today and I'd like for everybody to go to it."

Naruto whirled around, nearly pulling Hinata out of her seat. "Kakashi-sensei," he stuttered, "I thought you were, well, you know," the nervousness in his voice was apparent.

Kakashi's face, the part that Naruto could see anyway, turned grim. He leaned down and lowered his voice so no one else could hear him. "I was, but then Jiraiya-sama came and explained everything to the chief and now Orochimaru is in jail with his sidekick Kabuto Yakushi. Apparently, when the police went to get Orochimaru, he and Kabuto were doing some illegal things together. I don't think they'll be out for a while."

Kakashi was aware of relief showing on Naruto's face. "Thank god," Naruto sighed, his knees going weak.

Kakashi looked at Naruto in puzzlement, "Was Orochimaru the one that took you in, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head, no. "No, it was Kabuto. I was afraid to mention him for fear that he would hurt me. I've lived in constant fear of him for three whole years, I need a break." he said, his hand still holding onto Hinata's.

He turned back to her and smiled, "This is great Hinata-chan. The people that hurt us are now in jail getting the punishment that they deserve." His smile was wide and Hinata found herself smiling slightly too.

But she found herself saying softly, just above a whisper, "I don't have anywhere to live. Father was my only guardian and now that he's gone my sister and I are on our own in the mansion and I'd rather get out of there as soon as I can." she turned red from lack of air and she wasn't used to talking so much at onetime.

Naruto's smile grew larger, "You can live with me, Hinata-chan!" he exclaimed without thinking about how it sounded.

Hinata grew redder and Kakashi coughed while trying to hide his nosebleed.

Naruto looked at the two of them and then realized what he just said. "Um," he started awkwardly, "I meant you could live with me and my godfather and his wife."

Kakashi's eyebrow lifted up, "Oh, and who is your godfather?"

Naruto grimaced as he remembered his first impression of the man, "Jiraiya, the most perverted man I have ever known."

Kakashi sighed with relief, "Well, it could be worse. Jiraiya-sama is a genius with his writing and I'd trust him with my life."

Just then an announcement came on and called everybody down to the auditorium. Everyone that had been gawking at the three in the corner turned and began chatting with each other while walking down.

On the way down, Naruto heard that Sasuke had transferred to a school in the Oto district because he couldn't get a proper education from Konoha high school, because they had unnecessary days off. Also because he couldn't pass his brother in being smarter than him if he didn't get an education. He also heard that Sakura had transferred after him, still trying to pursue him to be her boyfriend.

Naruto just held onto Hinata's hand while hearing all of the news and leaned down suddenly and kissed her in the middle of the hallway, making everybody behind them turn red and go around them.

They stayed in the hall until it emptied out, and Naruto turned around and left the school with Hinata.

--A few months later

Naruto jumped out of bed happily and ran into Hinata's room to wake her up.

Hinata was already awake when he bounded in and gave her a hug and a kiss while saying I love you to her.

She was no longer the heir to Hyuuga incorporations, but she didn't mind. She didn't want to do that kind of stuff anyway; she wanted to be a photographer.

Shortly after they left Konoha, Naruto, Hinata, Tsunade and Jiraiya, Hinata began opening up more and she and Naruto had been going on dates.

Naruto and Hinata had started seeing psychiatrists to help them sort out there problems and to help them to move on with their lives.

Hinata kept in contact with Neji, who had set up a video camera in her house and turned it in to the police after he got evidence that her father was abusing her.

Naruto kept in contact with Kakashi and Iruka, who had started dating much to his surprise. He used the phone that Kakashi had given him to keep in contact with them and made sure that Kakashi paid the bill for it every month. He also kept in contact with Gaara and surprisingly Kankuro.

In the time that Naruto and Hinata had been living with Jiraiya and Tsunade, they found that they actually enjoyed spending time with them and they all had fun when they were together.

Naruto was still a little cautious about them, but other than that found that he was relaxed with them and didn't have to fear for his life.

Jiraiya had also paid off his first Ichiraku bill that he was supposed to work off, but never got the chance to.

Naruto sighed as he went downstairs with his best friend and lover, to start a new day.

A/N: Well this is the last chapter. At the beginning, my brother, whose penname is Spiritslayer, helped me out. I had a fun time writing this and I hope you all enjoyed this story and please review and tell me what you think, please. Bye for now.


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